


Blooms in Evening Star

by curiousitree



Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: (eventual) mind numbing fluff, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Romance, Eventual Sex, F/M, General tension, Hurt/Comfort, Murder, Occasional angst, Platonic Relationships, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Vampirism, mentions of torture, morality questions, more tags to come, slightly weird ship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:48:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 24,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25370389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curiousitree/pseuds/curiousitree
Summary: Sometimes heroism doesn't quite stick the first chance someone gets. Sometimes fate needs to come back around a couple times. Neither Kaidan nor Soléne are natural heroes, both might be towards the bottom of the hero barrel. But someone has to save Skyrim.So apparently, it's down to this wanderer and vampire, both running from their regrets and misdeeds and trying to find out who they are, all while fending off dragons, bears, Vigilants, Thalmor, and snarky bards.(Kaidan belongs to @LivTempleton on twitter)
Relationships: Female Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Kaidan, Female Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Original Female Character(s), Past:
Comments: 44
Kudos: 56





	1. Waking

4E 201, 20 Last Seed  
Eastmarch

She couldn't say how long she'd been asleep by the time she finally returned to consciousness. For a moment, less than half lucid, she couldn't pinpoint what in the prison had changed. She knew only that something had.

Then the animal within her realized what it was with a chilling certainty and wrenching need: blood.

She smelled blood. From deep within the sleep she'd dropped into an unknown time ago, the scent of it prickled at her senses, dragged her to awareness, brought the imitation of life back to her limbs.

The cold stone floor of the prison cell hardly registered as she dropped to the ground, consumed by the search for the source of the smell. It came from past her cell door. She was against the bars in a fraction of a second, reaching through, rattling it on its hinges. Screeching in fury, she let go of the door and withdrew from it, pulling herself back into the shadows, desperate for clarity of mind she hadn't felt since her arrest. 

\---

Most of the damage to the prison affected the upper and lower floors the worst. If the Thalmor confined their operations to the floors closest to ground level, they were the least likely to meet the same fate as the previous occupants. 

Thankfully said operations here were minimal. The potential Blade recently brought in from near the Cyrodiil border was their only prisoner this far east, and he was only here because they needed a remote area to keep him. The Emperor had signed over a large amount of authority to the Thalmor, but they still didn't quite have carte blanche to abduct people on mere suspicions. Should it roil the political climate of Skyrim... Well... Certainly worse things for the Thalmor have happened, but the rift between Skyrim and the Empire must not be bridged by hatred of a common enemy. At least not yet. Not until the Dominion was ready for the next Great War.

An almighty rattle came from somewhere below and Ganlas looked up from his notes at his commanding officer. "...Sir?"

A pause, where both Thalmor glanced warily in the direction of the cells and the path deeper into the prison, and then a hair-raising shriek.

"Thought we cleared out these damned ghosts already," Cyrelian muttered, covering his nerves with irritation. "See to it."

Ganlas paled, swallowed hard, and straightened his posture. "Yes, sir." He would not show fear in front of his commanding officer, but the brave front was hard won. He adjusted his armor and rested a hand on the pommel of his sword, as he started down the corridor, bracing himself. 

At first, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Their prisoner remained in his shackles, gone quiet and sullen since his last interrogation session. None of the other cells were occupied, even by ghosts, the torches remained in their sconces, every door was closed and locked.

Ganlas continued down the cell block with his eyes peeled and took one of the torches from where it was mounted. During the daytime hours, light filtered in through almost as many cracks as water did, but Secunda had set and Masser was but a sliver in the sky. Shadows danced ominously at the edges of the torchlight as he pressed deeper into the prison. Thalmor forces had gone through most of the place before they settled in, but they had only been precise enough to secure it, only disrupted most of the more annoying ghosts. They hadn't dredged the shadows or cleared out the bones.

He came to a cell door at the end of the hallway, thankful he'd brought a light to combat the pervasive darkness this far from any mounted torches, and shoved down his growing apprehension. These ghosts posed no threat, and he hadn't even seen any sign of one since the mysterious noises. Maybe they'd been mistaken, maybe it was the wind.

Ganlas leaned closer to the bars, peering into the darkness behind the door and holding his torch aloft, before testing the lock with his free hand. The door didn't budge. Nor did it rattle.

"Hmm." He lowered his torch slightly, wondering how much trouble he'd be in if he didn't open it. After all, he couldn't see any ghosts... He'd fulfilled his orders, hadn't he? They needed to be able to find the ghosts to get rid of them, and if he hadn't found any...

All at once, there was a rapid shuffling sound and he was frozen where he stood. He hadn't noticed anyone in the cell, but suddenly there was a woman before him. He struggled with himself, captivated, horrified, spellbound. He had the inexplicable need to be closer to her, to do anything she wanted. The torch tumbled from his fingers as he wrapped them around the bars, fumbling with the keys in his other hand. 

Her hand was like a frigid vise as it closed over his wrist, and instead of raising alarms in his mind as it should have, her touch felt like water after being stranded in the Alik'r. The lock finally gave and he was preoccupied with getting rid of the bars between them when she pounced on him. Her fingers slipped beneath his helmet, shoved it to the floor, and tangled in his hair, but they were rough and hurried enough that concern flickered fleetingly across his consciousness.

It dawned on him too late that he'd been enthralled, only as she used his hair to jerk his head to the side and bring his neck to her teeth. Monstrous teeth, he realized belatedly, and far too corporeal to be a ghost. The torch still burned on the stone floor, but its light faded from his vision until there was only darkness.


	2. Listening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the slightly abrupt chapter end, I have to be realistic about how much I bite off to edit at once, and I want to keep the chapters short-ish and really accessible to people like myself with focus issues. I'm extremely open to feedback though, (as in please comment I will build you a shrine) and if longer chapters are what people want, I can do my best to make that happen. Thanks so much for stopping by, you're the real MVP.

Days had not blurred together like this for Kaidan since just after Brynjar died. His entire existence had been reduced to regular torture, questions he couldn't answer even if he'd known the damned answers to give, and--on what passed for his lucky days now--the rare and sparse bit of water to keep him alive for their next round. 

His ears picked up the sound of approaching footsteps and he gritted his teeth, knowing what was coming. He'd figured out they wanted to see his reactions not long after they'd realized they weren't going to get any new information out of him. Since then, spite was one of the last ties he had keeping him alive, and it insisted he not give them anything. He would not show weakness. He could not, or they would seize on it as they had too many times already.

The footsteps continued past his cell, and he let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding, struggling to take the weight off his arms long enough to reestablish a normal breathing pattern. The knives and spells and whips were nothing compared to the enduring, excruciating ache in his joints, the pressure on his lungs, as he fought to either stand or be crucified.

_Thalmor bastards,_ he thought to himself for the umpteenth time since his imprisonment, before his thoughts were interrupted by a muffled clatter. Hesitantly, he raised his eyes to peer through the gloom, towards where the guard had gone, but he couldn't twist around enough to look down the hallway.

As he shifted in his bonds, he caught a dark blur streak past his cell. He froze. That was new. And potentially dangerous. He checked his shackles again, in case his continued efforts had loosened them any. As old as this place looked to be, he should almost be able to rip the damn things clear off the wall, but it had been too long since his last meal, too long since he'd felt anything in his limbs but a burning ache that left them trembling.

A painful moment passed, dominated by the pounding of his heart in ears, and then another. And another. And then a figure materialized at the top of the stairway, silhouetted against what he assumed was candlelight from some checkpoint or barracks at the end of the cell block. He had been blindfolded when they brought him here, and though he was still shackled, he suddenly felt his lack of knowledge of his surroundings acutely.

The figure closed the distance along the cell block and he made out a feminine shape as it drew closer. He bit his lip, flexing his fingers into fists and steadying himself. She wasn't moving like she was particularly concerned for her safety, instead there was a comfort in her steps similar to the way a person might stroll through a town. He couldn't see a weapon on her, and as she passed beneath one of the torch sconces, he saw she was dressed in tattered prisoner rags, with what looked like fresh blood down the front.

His mouth went dry as he waited for her to make her move, unable to do much else. If she were a vampire as he was beginning to suspect, he would be in no condition to fight her off like this, even if he weren't bound. Somewhere distant in his mind, he found a trace of bitter amusement. _And I thought it would be the Thalmor that finished me off, not one damned vampire._

\--- 

Soléne came back to herself standing over a corpse that had crumpled from the table where he'd been sitting before death. Her heart sank as she took in the taste of blood in her mouth and the unnatural pallor of the elf at her feet. It wasn't the first time she'd accidentally killed someone, but it was the first time in decades.

Her eyes flickered up to the walls around her, trying to orient herself. Just the stone had little enough information for her though, and so she quieted her thoughts to listen closely for anyone left alive. She doubted they'd be too agreeable towards her after she'd killed at least one of their men, but she did hear a faint heartbeat towards the east. She couldn't risk the chance--or, to be honest with herself, couldn't abandon the hope--that someone was only injured. If there was someone that needed help, her path was clear, especially if she was the reason they needed help.

As she made her way through the prison, memories came back to her. Her arrest, the prison revolt, the flood... Even after a sleep she could only guess at the length of, the prison looked to be in worse shape than she was. Walls that she remembered as aged and weathered but still sturdy had been worn down, by either water or time, and the river leaked in with a persistent rushing that made it more difficult to pinpoint any sources of life.

Her eyes fell on a skeleton at the entrance to the cell block, wearing the remains of Imperial arms and armor, and she took a closer look around for any clues as to how long it'd been there. Depending on the air, it could take anywhere from a couple months to decades for bodies to fully decompose like this. The body told her nothing, but when she looked up again, she saw a man alive in the furthest cell down the hall. 

As she got closer, she realized it was his heart she was hearing, but not only his. From the moment she passed the first brazier, she could hear his heart rate pick up, and the change in pace distinguished it from another heartbeat just at the edge of her hearing. She kept moving forward, eyeing the cell door and spotted a key on the table nearby. She might've been able to pick the lock, but with a key so close, she saw no reason to complicate things.

As close as she was now, just on the other side of the bars, the smell of blood was thick and heady as it dripped from his wounds, and she realized this must've been the blood that had woken her. It had a strange smell to it now that she was closer and she gave him a hard look as she palmed the key and moved towards the door.

He was shackled to the wall, muscles tight with the effort of supporting himself in the constricting position his binds forced him into, and giving her a look that reminded her of a bear caught in a trap, somewhere between wary and warning, and there was a sharpness to his features she didn't recognize, particularly around his eyes. Eyes that, perhaps just in the firelight, almost looked as red as hers. The cell door clicked open, creaking slightly on its hinge, but unlikely loud enough to draw much attention.


	3. Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Low key I am living for these stealth vampire puns.

Soléne heard the man pull in a deep breath as she approached, and though she could hear his heart pounding, he seemed shockingly calm externally. She reached towards him, moving to unlock the shackles and he went even more tense than he'd been previously.

"What are you?" He asked quietly, and she didn't miss the accusatory note in his voice.

"Help?" She answered, hesitant and hopeful, uncurling her hand to show him the key she still held ready. The less she said, the less likely he'd be able to catch a glimpse of her fangs. She expected he had some idea, but there was no reason to spook him further.

Relief washed over him, visible enough she could've seen it even without heightened senses, as he glanced towards a hole in his cell wall. "Quick, get me out of here before more come." 

She moved forward again, with permission this time, and started work on the left lock. "Who are you?" She took the chance to ask, just past his field of vision.

"Kaidan…" He sounded reticent, but more from weariness than unwillingness. "My name is Kaidan."

"Soléne," she returned, and then cursed under her breath. "Damn lock is rusted." He glanced up at her at that, a bit of nervousness creeping into his expression. "Oh-- there!" The lock gave and the prisoner's weight shifted entirely to his right arm. He groaned in pain and lifted himself up to grip the top of the shackle with his free hand, distributing his weight evenly as he waited for her to undo the other lock.

"Sorry," she muttered with a sympathetic wince as she got to work on the other wrist. "How'd you end up here?"

"The Thalmor invited me to high tea, what do you think?" He snapped, voice tight with pain and impatience. She stole a look at him as she worked the weathered lock. So it _had_ been a Thalmor agent she'd killed. She hadn't been sure, but he sounded certain. They'd been mostly quiet since the war, and they hadn't been in control of this prison last she remembered.

Just a moment later though, he sighed, still irritable but less contentious, and gave a proper answer. "I don’t know. Some justicars ambushed me outside of Falkreath."

As the second shackle opened, Kaidan slumped forward, and she heard both his shoulders pop as they repositioned themselves and she moved to catch him before he hit the ground. With open wounds like that, he might not last long if he got any contaminants in them. He was heavy, and his size was awkward to manage as she lowered him more carefully to the ground, so he could favor his extensive injuries.

"Thanks," he muttered, and when he glanced at her, she noticed he was less relieved than she'd thought and that there was still a good deal of uneasiness in his eyes. She withdrew, putting some space between them, and glanced around the room, looking for anything useful, wondering if he'd be able to make it out of the prison.

Kaidan spoke as if in answer to her unasked question, and she didn't miss the hint of appreciation in his face as she backed off. "I'm… in a bad way. You don't have a potion or anything do you?" He helped himself up, leaning heavily on the wall.

"I can do you one better." She brought a healing spell to mind and extended a slightly glowing, shimmering hand towards him, slowly, carefully, with plenty of time for him to protest. She was almost surprised when he didn't, allowing her to continue but looking at her hand like it was the most bizarre thing he'd ever seen.

"A healer? But-- I guess I won't complain." He rolled his shoulders as the spell washed over him, flexing, testing his mobility, and straightening for the first time in too long. His full height nearly dwarfed her, he was at least the size of a tall nord with the bulk to match. She was struck by the untimely realization that even with the scars from his freshly healed wounds, he was absolutely statuesque and she looked away quickly lest he mistake a lingering gaze for hunger. His eyes shifted towards the hole in his cell wall again.

"I would've thought you'd be in a bigger rush to get out of here…" she observed mildly, after a brief moment.

"There's one more thing," he turned back to her again, and she could tell right away he was about to ask for something. Her interest piqued and she raised her eyebrows slightly. People tended to act very strangely when they decided they weren't going to be immediately combative with vampires. One minute it was 'get away from me, monster!' The next it's 'wait, actually, help me with this one thing.' Or 'sooooo, the merethic era…' or 'can I try vampirism too?' It always took some time for people to work their way around to some level of comfort and each took their own path to get there.

"I know I've got no right to ask" he prefaced, with his voice reluctant but strong. She nodded for him to continue, paying closer attention to how he asked than what he was asking.

The frequency with which people asked her for help left her generally unsurprised when they did, and she didn't mind helping, or giving them however much time they needed to adjust, after all time wasn't really a factor for her. What mattered was _how_ they asked. Not whether they asked politely or rudely, but which words they chose, their demeanor while asking. _How_ someone made their request often told more about the job than the person asking did. Kaidan seemed unfamiliar with asking for help, loathe to need it, but like this request was decidedly important enough to him for him to ask anyway.

"One of the Thalmor got his hands on my sword. I could use your help getting it back."

A small, knowing smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, and she only put token effort into hiding it from him. _And there it is._ Help retrieving an item must have made up about half the jobs she took from people who were sussing out her character. Bonus points if the item was some heirloom that had been tragically lost from their possession, extra bonus points if it was lost by an incompetent relative.

"Which way did he go?" She asked, affirming her intent to assist.

"Deeper into the prison," Kaidan answered, picking a potion up from behind a bucket on a crate where she'd missed it earlier. He caught her eye and tossed a second one towards her. She caught it and looked at it for a moment, appreciating the thought, before turning her focus back to him as he started picking his way, barefoot, through the rubble left by whatever had destroyed the wall. "With any luck, he's cornered like a rat."

She hurried a couple steps forward to catch up with him, even with careful steps his strides were longer than hers and she had to quicken her natural gait a little to keep up. She winced as she watched him avoid sharp pebbles, but sighed in resignation. Her own feet were only covered in strips of cloth, and she had no boots to offer him.

Past the rubble, the floor leveled out again as they emerged from the hole in the wall into another line of cells. She took the lead with the key and unlocked the door for them, jogging up the couple steps to the walkway that led up a short staircase at the end of the hall. Her eyes caught on a sword and shield left on a table nearby.

"Here," she offered him the sword, "Perhaps you should arm yourself."

"Not a bad idea." He picked up the sword and gave it a couple practice swings to test its weight and balance before taking the shield with his left arm and then heading towards the end of the hall.

She followed but stopped him at the stairs with a gentle hand at his arm when she heard the soft rustle of fabric from just around the corner. She pressed a finger to her lips and pointed towards the wall that separated the stairway from the room beyond. He followed her hand with his eyes and then nodded, adopting a stealthier posture.

She crept up the stairs, homing in on where in the room she'd heard signs of life from. A quill scratched on paper, the pattern of breathing was relaxed and even. Judging by the sound, he was at a desk, just against the nearest wall. Which meant he was probably facing the door and she wasn't terribly likely to be able to take him by surprise. She glanced back at Kaidan to see him focused with rapt attention, sliding along the wall towards the door. Confident he would be right behind her, she slipped over the threshold and reached for the elf, who was at his desk just as she'd guessed.

He made a shocked noise, and scrambled back, away from her reach, toppling over his chair and putting it between them as he called a flame spell and blasted it towards her. She jumped back, out of the worst of the flames, and launched a drain health spell his way.

As she narrowly avoided knocking over a nearby brazier in her defensive maneuvering, Kaidan seized the moment while the elf was distracted to close the distance and impale him through the side. The elf choked, looked at Kaidan, and tried to turn the flames on him instead. 

Soléne snuffed out the fire with a focused blast of cold towards his hands, effectively disarming him for a second, as Kaidan kicked the elf off his blade and brought it down in a swift vicious sweep that cleaved head from body. She let out a heavy, reflexive breath as the threat was ended and Kaidan stabbed the imperial sword into the elf's body one more time and left it there, standing upright like a banner. 

"Son of a bitch had it coming," he growled, and she wasn't sure if it was more for her benefit or his own. "Can't thank you enough," he said, more clearly to her this time, "I know you didn't have to help me."

She waved it off and glanced around the room. "Don't mention it." Spotting some potions next to a nearby chest, she tore off some of her pant leg to improvise a pouch for them and poked through the chest.

There was a quiet metal on stone sound from behind her as Kaidan must have found his sword, and she held up a fierce-looking bow that had been in the chest for him to see. "Is this yours? There's armor here as well."

"You've found the rest of my gear!" He sounded happier than she'd heard him so far as he came up behind her, looking over her shoulder into the chest with his belongings. "Mind if I..." He motioned to move past her towards the chest and she let him, averting her eyes and giving him room as he armored up. She busied herself instead with looking over the corpse to see if there was any way to make use of the blood that had mostly seeped into the stones by now.

She glanced up to catch him watching her with less apprehension than before, but still quite a distance from comfortable. "Ready?" She asked as she stood from the body.

His mouth went tight at the corners. "Yeah. But… Listen, you saved my life. And I'm not a man who's comfortable being in debt." She raised an eyebrow inquisitively, and he pressed on, probably a little worried about what payment she might request if he didn't specify, if she were to guess his mind. "If you ever have need of me, I'd be glad to fight at your side until that debt is repaid."

Her jaw went slack at that. Strangeness, indeed. No matter how many of the living she met, some still threw her for a loop. She'd expected gratitude, or to be sent away at swordpoint or somewhere between. She hadn't expected a combination where he begrudgingly swore to repay a debt she didn't even feel like he owed by spending more time with her. As she was wearing bloody rags no less.

"You mean that," she verified after a brief moment of speechlessness. He gave her a quick nod, the gesture curt and loaded with the same wariness that had marked his demeanor so far. "Well, I'd be glad to have you, if you're certain. Y-your company, I mean." She kicked herself internally at her phrasing and rubbed her forehead. It was probably clear enough what she meant, but she wanted to be as clear as possible to put him at ease. She didn't want to travel with someone who'd painted some terrifying image of her in their heads that was just waiting to snap and devour them or the like.

The ghost of amusement played about his eyebrows and the corner of his mouth with a slight twitch, but he didn't otherwise respond to her wording. He held his hand out, back the way they came, motioning for her to take the lead. The gesture wasn't lost on her. It could've been because she was hardier or because she had the keys or because he intended to let his goals be secondary to hers… or it could've been to keep the vampire where he could see her.

Whatever his motivations, she complied, taking one last look around the final guard's room and then headed back towards the cells. It had been some time since she'd been brought in, and though most of these floors seemed to be intact, she was less than entirely sure about the way out.


	4. Looking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's okay, Kaidan makes EVERYONE thirsty.

"When did the Thalmor take over this prison?" Soléne spoke over her shoulder as she stepped back through the cell that led to where Kaidan had been.

"How should I know? You think they told me?" There was some bite to his tone, but not much.

"That's fair." She was quiet for a moment. "Do you remember a flood here?" 

"What, in the prison?" He asked, clearly not following her line of questioning.

"Yes, a terrible one."

"Not since I've been here"

"Hmm. What year is it?" She finally inquired, becoming a little concerned for the Skyrim they would emerge to outside the prison.

"Year?" She felt him looking at her without needing to turn around as he repeated her with incredulity. "201."

She paused, taking another look at the table outside Kaidan's former cell and picking up a small coin purse since the Thalmor wouldn't need it anymore. "Is it still the 4th Era?"

"What do you mean 'is it still the 4th Era?' How long have _you_ been in here?"

Soléne was tipping her hand trying to figure out current events, but hopefully he trusted her enough that even if her life span convinced him of what she was, they could at least still part without violence.

"I don't know," she answered honestly, rubbing her forehead as she recalled details that could help narrow it down. "It was Rain's Hand. This year, I think. 201, 4th Era…"

"It's Last Seed." He supplied helpfully, heading towards the room with the table where she'd regained her senses over the Thalmor body. “Least, I think so. It’s been a while for me too.”

"Four months." She sighed, thinking back on the responsibilities she'd had before being arrested. No wonder she'd been crazed upon waking. Still, it could've been worse. It could've been the next era. How much really could've happened in four months? Save the Synod complaining about how this was supposed to be a quick delivery and Soléne should have had no trouble. By Julianos, she could already imagine. "I have to collect payment for a job in Cyrodiil. If they're still willing."

"More than happy to get you to the border, but they're keeping a close eye on who comes and leaves Skyrim these days." Kaidan sounded agreeable, but for some good-natured caution to his tone that reminded her of a traveler warning of wolves up the path.

She bit her tongue as they came to the top of the stairway and stole a guilty look up at Kaidan as she stepped over the outstretched arm of the body she'd left earlier and then moved swiftly past, half-hoping he wouldn't notice. Kaidan just kicked the limb out of his way and fixed the body with a glare that might've killed it again. "Damned Thalmor," he muttered under his breath before lengthening his stride to catch up with her at the next staircase. "Maybe I ought to thank you for that one too."

She winced at that, proceeding up the stairs. "I'd rather if you didn't." Her reply was so quiet it was almost lost in the sound of flowing water that increased in volume as the stairway opened up to a crumbling circular room. The curved walls had given way to enough leaks to feed a layer of moss over nearly every surface and to pool in a body of water in the middle of the room that was somewhere between puddle and lake, beneath a partially caved in ceiling that must let in sunlight during the day.

Through the gaps in the stone above, the night sky was so inviting, it would've stolen her breath. She had to force herself to give the room at least a cursory glance instead of bolting straight for the door like a puppy trying to get outside. Part of her had been concerned they'd need to linger in the prison to wait out the daylight or that Kaidan would need to save her life sooner than expected, but the stars above were so welcome that it left an ache in her chest.

With nothing in the room important enough to be worth their limited space, she finally came to the door she hadn't seen in months. Even its warped and weathered wood looked like an old friend. She glanced up at Kaidan, her fingers poised on the handle, making sure he was ready, and then pressed it open.

Though she didn't need to, she filled her lungs with the fresh night air and closed her eyes for a blissful moment, savoring the breeze and the distant sound of torchbugs all but lost in the rushing of the river below. The mindfulness brought back an uncomfortable hunger she realized wasn't fully sated, not even after draining at least one altmer to death.

"Navigating by the stars is something I never quite got the hang of. Seems a shame on a night like tonight." Kaidan sighed, and it was the first time Soléne didn't hear apprehension or pain in his voice.

She turned to look at him for a moment, and caught him with his eyes skyward, towering over her, with similar feelings etched into his expression that she'd been experiencing. The breeze caught the cloth parts of his armor, pressed his sleeves against the firm shape of his arms only recently hidden, sent the loose pieces of his hair dancing around his cheekbones. She bit her lip and turned away, stricken, as the need for blood mixed with a different kind of thirst and nearly made her head spin. This was far, far, far from sustainable, and she bumped her next feeding to the very top of her priority list. She’d need a clear head if there was going to be any length to this partnership.


	5. Navigating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So for my birthday, I gift to my few and precious readers, one more chapter. I honestly hope it's not too painful watching them try to figure out their location without a map. There might be a bit of a break between this chapter and the next because the next is a lot to edit and I'm taking a short break today. Thanks for reading, and I love you.

“I, ah…” Soléne cleared her throat, “I never properly learned. But I haven’t got a map or anything.” She used to know a spell that would guide her to her desired target, but she hadn’t used it in ages and it tended to be a little trickier when the target was anything that bleeds.

“Let’s gain some height,” Kaidan suggested, looking around and testing the stability of a rubble pile that led up the cliff behind the prison. “But probably won’t be much good until daylight, unless you can see in the dark.” He let the words hang in the air, testing the rubble for longer than he should’ve needed to.

A tiny smile crept across her face and she tilted her head, as she realized he was testing her as well, and sneaking glances at her out of the corner of his eye. He wanted to see her response to daylight. Interesting. He could ask directly, but he wasn’t. She wondered if his reticence was from concern that he wouldn’t like the answer, or if he thought asking would bother her. “Let’s see, shall we?” She came up beside him, deciding to play it safe until she knew him a little better too.

The climb to the top of the cliff wasn’t too difficult, but the dim sliver of moonlight did them no favors. By the time they’d come to the top, the horizon was already paling towards the east and she’d been starved for too long to resist the effects of the sun. Time ran short, but the bit of light was all she needed. If only she had been more familiar with Skyrim’s geography.

Sheepishly, she turned to Kaidan. “I can make out some things, but they don’t mean much to me. How familiar are you with Skyrim?”

He fixed her with a look that was both thoughtful and slightly critical and she could see him sizing her up again, factoring the new information into his assessment, likely still looking for certainty. “Very, but that’s pretty vague.”

“I was picked up in the east part…” She looked away from him, trying to remember a map she’d barely cared about and hadn’t seen in months.

“Eastmarch?” He corrected skeptically, a bit of amusement creeping into his tone.

“That sounds right.” She nodded in emphasis, and didn’t miss his subtle eyeroll.

“Well it’s not warm enough to be Riften…” He thought aloud. “This river down there, what can you see of it?”

“It’s fast but not terribly wide, there’s a lot of wreckage,” she described, deftly picking a path to the top of one of the rocks that jutted from the cliff face to get a better perspective with less obstruction. “Cliffs on both sides. I think I can see the road down there on the other side.”

“Does the river flow straight or curve? Does it meet other rivers?” He called up to her.

“Tough to tell from here, but it looks like there’s a fork, maybe a fifteen minute walk that way, with a bridge over one side.” She glanced down at him to make sure he saw her indicate the direction and he nodded for her to continue. She hopped down and picked another vantage point to see the direction that had been blocked by the prison in her previous one.

“There’s a fort across the river,” she announced as she climbed into place, “And… flatlands, maybe? Over this way.” She was less above him this time and closer to eye level when she checked to see if that meant anything to him.

“Hot springs?” He supplied, squinting past her. It had been so long since she saw with human eyes that she struggled to remember what it looked like to him.

She squinted too. “Could be. It’s misty-looking over there.”

“Aye,” He nodded again. “Sounds like the White River. To hazard a guess, towards the fork is Whiterun and the Rift is towards the springs. But I’d wait until daylight to be sure.”

She gave him a look from her perch and then made her way back to level ground. He’d been helpful enough. And how long would she really be able to hide it while traveling with him anyway? “I can’t.”

“I knew it!” To her surprise, he sounded more like he’d solved a puzzle than found out the person he supposedly owed a debt to was undead. “You _are_ a vampire.”

“I am.” She confirmed, simple but tentative, immediately changing the subject in hopes of avoiding him dwelling on it. “Which way is the best way south?”

He hesitated, then shrugged. “Towards Whiterun. It’s a bit of a detour but it’ll be the easiest in the dark. Unless this is just… like daylight to you?”

“Oh no, daylight is much brighter,” She smiled at him and started towards the fork. She heard him scoff from behind her and, after a brief pause, heard his boots and the jingle of his armor as he fell into step.


	6. Traveling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who just figured out how to use notes :D sorry if this stupid-long fight scene is boring. Thanks so much for sticking around for the next chapter! I just blocked out an outline for this story so I officially have A Plan now. And, like, it looks spicyyy. Stay tuned!

“You know,” Kaidan spoke up as they picked their way down the less steep side of the cliff, “Might be easier to head to Windhelm. Take a carriage to Falkreath, make a go at the border from there.”

“I can’t take carriages,” Soléne answered only a bit dejectedly. “Nowhere to go when the sun comes up.” He gave her a look like that was something he’d never had to think about, and that certainly seemed the case. “Ships either,” she added, in case that question should ever arise. “Shipmates get particularly suspicious after-- well, nearly any amount of time.”

“So you walk _everywhere_?” He asked, incredulous. 

“Well not… I can take ships or carriages, but only if the trip is no longer than a day or two. After that it gets dicey.” 

“As in they find you out or…?”

“It’s… a number of things,” she returned wearily, and mercifully he dropped it and they lapsed into silence as they made their way towards the road.

The quiet stretched between them until they found their way down to the riverbed. It looked like a much better place to cross than the rapids beneath the prison and Soléne was certain she could cross with no issue but was less sure about Kaidan. She glanced back to find him still a few paces behind, then paused, trying to think of the least callous way to ask ‘hey, will this kill you?’

“Will you freeze?” He asked her instead, concern and curiosity vying for prominence in his voice, and she chuckled lightly.

“I was worried about _you._ ”

He gave the water a look like it’d insulted him while he pondered his own question. “It’s deeper than it looks. And this night chill is no good for traveling in wet clothes.”

She nodded, making the choice so he didn’t have to. “Somewhere shallower then?”

“Aye,” he agreed, “but you didn’t answer my question.”

“No,” she complied, and got a quizzical look in return. “Not unless there is very powerful magic involved.”

“That seems useful,” he mused aloud, raising an eyebrow. 

“There are reasons it’s been called both a blessing _and_ a curse.” They fell quiet again, moving upriver for a better place to make a crossing. 

They found it just past a giant’s camp, and Kaidan guided them carefully around. This part of the river wasn’t even up to Soléne’s knees, with a wide sand deposit in the middle that cut the depth drastically, and from there they came upon the road quickly. She’d lost track of the fort, however, which was disappointing as she’d wanted to poke her head in for dinner. _No matter,_ she thought. There was no guarantee there anyway, and there would certainly be other places she could look for a meal.

\---

They walked in silence until the road came to two towers astride the river, joined by a stone bridge. Kaidan closed the distance between them to speak quietly to her.

“Careful. Bandits like this spot.”

“Really? Oh, that’s delightful.” 

He looked down at her, expecting she was being sarcastic, but baffled at why she didn’t _sound_ sarcastic. Instead he found her beaming from ear to ear like someone had given her a pony. The discomfort he had with her nature came back in force. This was a stupid idea. Anyone who was that genuinely excited to meet bandits on the road had to have something wrong with them. He tried to reserve the worst of his judgement--after all, he had no place--but struggled to quiet the concern that this would be a significant detour from the better life he was trying to lead. He wasn’t sure it sat right with him.

She seemed to notice he was staring and glanced up at him, some of her cheer fading. He felt a flicker of inexplicable defensiveness at that, it was hardly his fault she was… the way she was. “What?” She asked, and he almost thought he heard petulance in her tone.

“Are you trying to make friends or breakfast?” He returned bluntly after a moment, figuring it was probably best to be straightforward.

“Well, I just--” she huffed, apparently offended, giving him an exasperated shrug and holding her arms out for a moment. “Figure bandits are better than poor travelers or city folk.” He didn’t exactly disagree, and wondered if he should apologize but she continued, winding down from contained indignance to reluctance . “Besides, I… need blood before sunrise or we have to stop for the day.”

“Is that how that works?” Curiosity reared its head again. He told himself it was so he could better protect her. Even if she were a vampire, she had saved his life, and so long as she didn’t try to bite _him_ or… pull anything terrible… memories flashed in his mind, unbidden, of fire and daedra, but he shook them away. He would be by her side until this debt was repaid, and he was only interested in her limitations so that he could mitigate them. That was it. 

She gave him the look he was starting to become acquainted with when he asked about her vampirism. He couldn’t quite pinpoint what it meant, sometimes she’d give it and then answer, sometimes she’d brush it off. He took it to mean ‘why are you asking?’ “Just about every day,” was the only answer he got from her this time, and even that much was only given as she turned away from him, towards the fort, with hesitance in her tone.

He found her remarkably good at leaving him behind for someone with such short legs, but he took the hint that she was done talking about it for now. The implications that she needed to hunt every day, or every night, unsettled him in one way, but in another way it was somewhat familiar. He’d spent much of his time hunting, and though his catches usually lasted more than a day, maybe people were only as… nourishing to her as a rabbit was to him.

Soléne made eye contact with the woman standing at the entrance to the tower on their side of the river. The woman straighted from where she was leaning against the wall and moved towards them. Kaidan sized her up. Light armor, one handed sword with no offhand, either she was a spellsword or she was at a disadvantage against his reach. He could take her alone before Soléne was at any risk.

Unless she made straight for the bandit. Like she just had. Kaidan gave her a disbelieving look as she raised an arm in greeting and speed-walked over to where the towers cast a shadow over the road in the dawning light. He realized her strategy a moment later. Get out of range of the archers, get into the shadows, close the distance, and if he were to guess, catch the bandit off guard.

She proved him right, closing to arm’s reach before the bandit put her hand on the pommel of her sword and took a step back. Their proximity made Kaidan nervous, but he knew he would have no chance that they’d miss him as a potential threat the way they’d missed her. So he hung back, following slowly, doing his best to act like this was a totally normal meeting on the road and not a life or death situation.

In an instant, Soléne went from patting down pockets he knew she didn’t have, to behind the bandit and buried in her neck. The movement was so fast and fluid he almost missed it, but the stillness of the bite itself turned his stomach a little, more an embrace than an attack, in sharp contrast with both the speed it took to get into position and with the friendly approach she'd taken to close in.

He unholstered his war bow and nocked an arrow, preferring to look up to where an archer was posted at the top of the tower. He’d drawn and loosed by the time the sniper had lined up a shot, and he fell from his perch to splatter on the riverbank. Kaidan didn't spend much thought on how that death bothered him less, guessing it was just the same as any combat death whereas a vampire's bite just… chilled him, to own the truth. 

Joining her beneath the shadow of the tower, Kaidan took the lead through the door, but she stopped him at the stairway.

“Wait. They’ll come to us.” She pressed herself against the wall farthest from the door they had entered through and crept up the staircase, at the top of which was another doorway. Her attention was on the enemy, but he took the moment’s reprieve to just look her over instead. He hadn’t really had much time to see her in a fight when she helped him kill his Thalmor jailors, and with the sun crawling up the horizon, he had more light than he'd had since meeting her.

There was an unnerving glow to her eyes, the smear of blood on her lips, even a slight flush beneath the pallor on her cheeks. He couldn’t tell if it was the light, but her cheeks had even lost some of their sunken look. She wrong-footed him so incredibly much, it was hard to figure out just what he’d gotten himself into with this debt. In the dawn's light, it was easier to see her the way that bandit outside had seen her, just a small Breton girl with no weapons in hand, instead of the hunter she really was. He had taken her for a predator when she first approached him, little more than a beast, but her true nature was more insidious than that. He would never have been able to play himself off as so non-threatening, and yet she might be a greater threat than he was.

Scuffling on wood just outside the door that faced the bridge jarred him out of his thoughts and he slipped to the same side of the room as Soléne, lest he blow her ambush. It was a decent plan, he supposed. The bandits had higher ground, but they had superior forces and a chokepoint.

An orc came through the door, with a sword drawn in one arm and a shield on the other, and unknowingly passed close enough to Soléne that he wouldn't have been able to connect - even with a very close range attack, before she sprung the trap and sank her teeth into his neck. He roared and fought and the second it took Kaidan to make it to him seemed to last a hundred, as the orc managed to dislodge her with a shield bash and throw her down the stone stairs.

Concern flared through him, but he shoved it aside, knowing it would take more than stairs to keep a vampire down, and that handling the immediate threat was the most important thing right now. Kaidan roared his own battle cry as he brought his sword down in a punishing blow. The orc managed to block his first strike, but with his shield up high, he left himself open down below and Kaidan kicked him in the groin and thrust his sword forward in a renewed attack. A spell flew past his head and he ducked, stowing his irritation along with his concern for once the threat was resolved.

The orc had impressive skill for a bandit, but the two on one assault pressed him back to the doorway, and then past it, as Kaidan gained ground and backed him up to the ledge. The orc made to grab him, but Kaidan parried the attempt into his own attack and trying to avoid the blade put the orc just off balance enough that he nearly stepped off the edge. Before he could steady himself, an unseen force knocked him the rest of the way into the nothingness.

An arrow struck the stone bare inches from where Kaidan was standing and he ducked back behind the cover of the wall to switch back to his own bow rather than wondering what had happened to the bandit. His eyes fell on Soléne, poised where he'd been, midway up the stairs, and he took the moment to give her a quick once-over. Blood trickled from a bruised cut to her brow. “You alright?”

“Oh, please.” She flashed him a grin, with her teeth only slightly still stained red, and slipped past him to take a position in the narrow space at the other side of the doorway. “I haven’t really got much range though. What’s our plan?”

“Wh--YOU had the plan!” He gaped at her then shook his head when she shrugged innocently. He groaned and peeked his head out to see an archer on the opposite cliff and an arrow zooming his way. “Damn it,” he grumbled under his breath, nocking another arrow as the enemy's clinked harmlessly against the stone.

“I’m going up the walkway. I think there’s more cover up there.”

“Wait,” he all but snarled at her. Damn this woman, he couldn’t protect her if she was going to act like an idiot. Mercifully, she complied. “Let me cover you. There’s a sniper across the way who’s got it in for us.”

She nodded, getting ready to move, but stayed behind the wall. He poked his head out for an instant to get an idea where he was aiming, and then ducked back inside to draw the bow back as far as it would go, before popping out again to fire.

Soléne slipped in front of him as he released the bowstring, rolling below his line of fire, and sprinted up the ramp as he watched the bandit on the opposite side of the bank drop. He resisted the urge to pat himself on the back for such a nice shot, and drew another arrow, loosing it at the nord charging across the bridge. This shot was just a graze, but it was enough to distract the enemy for a second.

“Up top! Opposite bank!” He heard her, but couldn’t see her from his current angle, instead searching for the target she’d named. He switched his eyes back to the bandit on the bridge to see he was more than halfway across. He looked between the two threats, making the split second decision to try and put himself between her and the bandit on the bridge while lining up a shot towards the top of the far tower. Might be she had a plan, if she didn’t, he’d be there.

He was almost up the ramp when he fired, aiming carefully. They didn’t have time for a second shot. The arrow struck true and the figure on the opposite tower slumped out of sight. Before he could reach the top of the ramp, Soléne had appeared on the bridge. Just standing. Waiting.

The bandit was on her, raising his sword, just as Kaidan got to the top of the ramp, but she sidestepped and sent him tumbling off the bridge. His sword, readied to parry the bandits attack if he'd been just two steps closer, dropped from its position slightly as he fixed her with a surprised look. He heard his heart beat, once, twice, and he let out his breath on the third beat, looking around to see if they were clear.

“Let’s not do that again.” He suggested, looking down at her.

“Really.” She agreed, touching her brow and looking at the blood on her fingers. “I busted my arse.”


	7. Trading

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally made it to Riverwood! Might be a bit of a break between this and chapter 8 because I've mostly been writing from memory and I need to catch up in my game so it's fresh again. (but we're literally not even to helgen yet so it shouldn't take long :) )

Soléne left him standing there, gawking at her again, in favor of heading back inside the south tower. When she was sure he was following she called up to him a couple stairs above her and a few steps behind, “Would it be in terrible taste if I took one of these bandits’ clothes?”

“You just _ate_ one and now you’re worried about their clothes?”

She gave him a slightly reproachful look and he held his hands up and shook his head, conceding the point, right or wrong. “I suppose that’s some perspective,” she muttered, only half under her breath as she stooped down by the first bandit that had fallen.

“Listen,” he said, idly watching her undo the first buckles of the bandit’s armor before averting his eyes when he realized that was what she was doing. “I don’t begrudge you killing bandits, let me be clear.”

“But?” She continued for him, slipping the easier pieces off the corpse and setting them aside.

“What?” He asked, glancing at her again and got an accidental eye-full of half-undressed bandit before he remembered why he'd looked away in the first place.

“Sounded like there was a but.”

“No. No buts. I mean… I wouldn’t recommend any murder sprees in towns.”

She looked up at him this time, a small smile touching her mouth, but he was facing the wall. “That seems fair,” she agreed drily, catching the slight motion of his head as he resisted the impulse to look at her again, before lowering her own head once more.

"I'm gonna look around for anything useful. Shout if you need me." His footfalls faded off as he went back into the fort.

The bandit’s slipshod leathers were ill-fitting and smelled powerfully of old mead and a lack of washing, but they offered more protection than the bloodied rags she’d been wearing, and they were less conspicuous too. They would have to suffice until she could find or afford better.

Whiterun sat on the western horizon, perched on its hill and catching the rays of the rising sun. If the brightness didn’t make her eyes ache, she might’ve been able to stop right there on the hillside and paint it. The early hour covered everything in warm pinkish hues and the miles of grasslands waved in the breeze like the surface of a lake, broken only by the bright pop of wildflowers or jutting stone. 

She slowed her pace and glanced up at Kaidan, who hadn't been far behind. "I didn't realize how beautiful it is here."

He raised an eyebrow in query, but voiced none.

"I…" she interrupted herself with a quiet, self-deprecating scoff. "Sort of thought there'd be more ice."

"There's plenty of ice further north if you want it that bad," he offered, in a slightly dubious tone.

"That's about all I've seen, actually. And mostly at night." She paused a moment, committing the scene to memory, in case it was a while before she saw daylight again. 

He made a sound low in his throat she wasn't sure how to interpret, and she waited, with the feeling he had more to say.

Nothing was forthcoming until they'd made it down the other side of the hill and were nearing a bridge back across the river. 

"So what's this job in Cyrodiil?" He eventually asked.

"Glorified courier work, really. Friend of mine needed a letter delivered to Winterhold. She'd sent a few before but with the unrest, it seemed like I should just deliver it in person." He made a thoughtful noise to show he was listening, and after a moment's thought, she added, "And I wanted to look into some of these rumors I'd been hearing about." 

"Which are those?"

"About a civil war brewing. This would be a terrible time for it."

He missed a step and gave her an appreciative look. "Damned right."

They crossed the bridge in silence and turned away from Whiterun at the fork in the road. The cobbled path led up a fairly steep incline as the river that had been beside them since the prison poured over a series of short waterfalls. High Rock had plenty of rivers and cliffs and Rivenspire even had a lovely view of the auroras, but there was more rain there. And more grey.

Kaidan finally spoke up as they rounded the face of a short cliff wall and a small town came into view. "Might be a decent idea to stop in town for supplies since it's on the way. Next town after this is Helgen, then you're almost at the border."

"Oh, then I know where I am," she announced, recognition in her voice. "I passed Helgen on my way up. When I asked for directions, they pointed me east through the mountains."

"Aye, we'll be coming at it from the north this time. The other way round is easy for someone to lose in those mountains." He paused and glanced down at her. She nodded, brow furrowing slightly as she tried to imagine it on a map.

"Someone in town will probably have a map too," she posited, almost daring to hope. He shrugged one shoulder in a 'maybe' sort of gesture. 

Riverwood was just waking as they passed through, a couple people meandering their way to the lumber mill, the blacksmith stoking his forge, people tending their livestock. Soléne found the town quaint and familiar. Towns like this always made her feel more at home than she felt in bustling cities. She knew from experience just how insular they could be, but they could be just as loyal if one won their trust. Cities, on the other hand, were as fickle as they were anonymous.

Scanning the signs that hung from the businesses off the main road through town, she located the Riverwood Trader and pointed it out to Kaidan. He fell in behind her as she got to the door and stepped inside.

The warmth and ruddy light from a fireplace just across the room left a friendly and inviting air to the space as the yawning Imperial girl leaning against the counter stood up straight to greet them. 

"Welcome to the Riverwood Trader! I'm Camilla. My brother and I run the place. What I can do for you today?" Her tone was much more alert than she'd looked a moment ago, in fact it was quite bubbly, and Soléne found her smile a bit contagious.

"Have you got a map for sale, perhaps?" Soléne unfastened the Thalmor pouch from her belt. 

"A map…?" Camilla deflated a little at that. "I don't think so…" She came around the counter and called up the stairs to the second floor. "Lucan! Do we have any maps?"

Soléne heard a grumble from upstairs before a rough voice called down "You don't need any maps, Camilla."

"It's not for me, it's for a customer!" She snapped back before turning back to Soléne and Kaidan "I'm sorry, Lucan's a little difficult before breakfast."

"I can relate," Soléne reassured mildly, missing interactions like theirs and knowing they couldn't possibly cherish those moments enough. Kaidan shot her a look and she fought back the small grin threatening the corners of her mouth as she almost heard him trying to figure out how much she was joking.

A second later, a man's head popped into sight above them. "How much are you paying?"

"By Zenithar, Lucan," Camilla muttered under her breath, starting up the stairs towards him. "Excuse me a moment, please, terribly sorry," she spoke back over her shoulder to them, remarkably adept at switching between her 'ugh, brothers' voice and her 'oh, customers' voice. 

"It's no trouble," Soléne called after her with a slight wince, unwilling to be a bother. Bothering people was one of the things that made them start asking too many questions, and simply arriving during the day wasn't guaranteed to put them to rest. 

"'I can relate?'" Kaidan repeated, somewhere between amused and apprehensive, once she was out of sight and quiet bickering commenced upstairs.

The grin that had been brewing finally curled her mouth a little and she shook her head and shrugged, looking into the fireplace. "I like them," she said simply. "I like this town."

"Isn't that strange for a--" he cut himself off abruptly and shifted his eyes back to the stairs. Soléne turned back towards Camilla who was descending again.

"I'm sorry, we haven't got one. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Soléne opened her mouth to speak, but Kaidan's voice came from behind her. "Aye, got some things here for trade." He followed the Imperial to the counter and Soléne recognized one or two things from the towers on the river. She made a note that she'd need to pay more attention to her finances. She didn't need to eat, and she could rest almost anywhere, she wouldn't outgrow her clothes, and the only thing she needed to worry about was damaging them. It'd skewed her perception of money.

Kaidan traded mostly for rations and supplies, and she made a note of that as well. They'd need to increase their income one way or another, he _did_ need to eat. Though, she didn't know much about his sleeping needs. She appraised him as they walked out of the shop, struggling to imagine him in a bed. Every time she tried to picture it, the bed was too small for him. She found it easier to imagine him beneath furs and the night sky.

As they left the town in agreeable silence, she kept watching him and realized she knew almost nothing about him. It occurred to her, extremely belatedly, that the Thalmor might've imprisoned him for something almost reasonable and she wouldn't have known. She had few doubts as to his character, it took an honorable man to swear a debt like he had, but as to the rest… He pulled ahead of her as they walked and he relaxed into a more natural gait, and her eyes fell to the sword he wore on his back. It was far longer than she'd ever be able to use, and she hadn't seen anything like it in decades. It was of a delicate-looking make, but she could attest to its strength in their last battle. There were ornate patterns woven onto the hilt and instead of a traditional crossguard, this one was round and ringed by serpents. The blade itself was dark, like a sliver of midnight, and then, etched into the metal like stars, were runes she didn't recognize.


	8. Approaching

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiiii Sorry about the big break between chapters, lol whoops. I got stuck on Helgen and I'm still unsticking but I think this chapter is ready. Just a quick note that if you want to know updates or what I'm up to between chapters or see me shitpost at 6am after not sleeping all night like an idiot... there is all that and more over on my tumblr, same name as here. Updates, notes, silliness and other stuff related to this here will be tagged "series: BIES" for some... reason. Idk. It should be fic: bies... But like whoops, should have thought of that a month ago. Lol, roll with it okay Helgen needs us.

As Soléne studied the metal for a moment, trying to decipher the runes, it occurred to her that this was the best look she'd had at it outside of combat.

"What's the story with this sword anyway?" She asked, quickening her pace to walk beside him. The length of his legs compared to hers set his relaxed pace nearly a step and a half ahead of her and she realized rather suddenly he must finally be comfortable enough to turn his back on her if he was in front of her this time.

"The question on everyone's mind, even mine," he sighed, weightiness creeping into his tone. "It used to belong to my mother. I never knew her, but it's my only clue to finding out who she was."

Soléne hmm'ed sympathetically at him and then glanced over. "Do you think the Thalmor wondered as well?"

"Figure they did," he answered darkly after a long moment, voice rough with remembered fury. "Seeing as they kept asking about it. Me wanting it back wasn't just me being emotional. It seemed… important to them."

"I'm glad we got it back, then." She tried to flash him a pleased smile but couldn’t catch his eyes. After they had traveled another few steps in silence, she spoke up again. "What happened with them?" A pause. "Not to pry."

Finally, he met her gaze and slowed his stride, but instead of pleased to have his sword and be out of Thalmor custody, he looked rather dour and begrudging. Not that she blamed him, the sight of him bloodied and hanging from the wall still lingered in her mind, and she had no doubt it was even worse for him. When he continued to regard her with scrutiny, she realized he was still trying to figure her out.

"Aye" he said after another pause that stretched several minutes. "Suppose I owe you that much," he conceded, again ascribing debt to a place she never saw any. "I was trying to cross the border into the Pale Pass, but ever since this war started, it's been near impossible to get into Cyrodiil without a stack of papers for the Empire to keep track of you."

She listened quietly, beginning to feel a slight strain matching his pace uphill as the road turned south, up towards the Jeralls. The sunlight played havoc with her stamina, and unless she paced herself, they'd need to find a shady spot to rest before long. As the trees thickened along the road, she longed for the dappled shadows of the Great Forest, seeing the hints of it in the terrain as they got further south. In Cyrodiil, snow melted down the mountains to feed countless streams that grew dense woods and, if her first trip up was anything to go by, the woods of Skyrim's southern holds were almost familiar to the ones on the far side.

"In the meantime, I was paying my way collecting bounties. Must've drawn too much attention to myself." He shook his head slightly at that as his voice went harsh again. "Seems the Thalmor don't need much evidence to bring in a suspect. They took one look at that sword, decided I'd be a good target for interrogation, and dragged me off to that prison."

"Do you know how long you were down there?" She asked quietly after a time, shoving aside her own political irritation for now. The Emperor was a fool if he thought the Thalmor would keep to the Treaty. It was only a wonder they'd been so quiet for so long, that they were abducting innocent people off the street came as no surprise. She hadn't _really_ thought it had been legitimate detainment anyway.

"Maybe a month, give or take." He returned almost as quietly, sounding like just thinking about it made him tired to his bones, but when he continued there was bare steel in his voice. "It was a bit hard to keep track at the time." They fell quiet for a moment and she glimpsed a short waterfall through some trees as the road climbed above the river.

This man had been tortured and nearly killed by the Thalmor, he'd faced her-- a recently fed but still starving vampire-- while bound to a wall and bleeding from those wounds, and then swore to repay his debt to her for freeing him. Through it all, the closest thing to fear she'd seen in him was self-preservation and, perhaps if she squinted, a bit of seemingly well-founded paranoia. But no real fear.

By the time she spoke up again, the river below had opened up into a wide lake, the far bank of which she struggled to see with the sun reflecting off the water. "Were you… afraid?" _Is there anything you are afraid of?_ She wanted to ask him, but she bit her tongue, concerned it might seem too much like she was probing for weakness.

Kaidan slowed as the path finally left the river for good and snaked up into the foothills, just enough for her to catch up and gave a crooked grin and a dry chuckle. It was her turn to fix him with a bewildered look this time as she paused as well.

"Brynjar used to say 'if you're not a little afraid, you're not understanding the situation.' Fear I can deal with easily enough but…" he paused, much of the mirth leaving his expression again as he looked out past an arrangement of carved stones towards the lake. "But there was a moment or two where I thought... it might really be the end for me." He sighed, and she felt his pain. There had been a time or two where she didn't think she'd make it either. Morrowind, Hammerfell… and those were only the times that were easiest to recall.

"The Thalmor would have never let me go. No matter what I told them." A pause stretched for several paces before he looked back at her and continued. She couldn't tell if his line of inquiry was just lucky or if her sympathy told the story on her face. "I'd guess you've faced down mortality too, perhaps you know the feeling?"

Her mouth twitched up into the ghost of a cheerless smile as she shook her head a little, taking a few steps along the path to get them moving again. "Too well. There's been… a few times." She doubted she wanted to go into detail any more than he did, but nonetheless she found herself dwelling on the desert again. She'd had to go almost six feet down into the sand to get away from the sun and what little blood she did manage to find seemed to fade twice as fast and do little more than add to the unbearable thirst.

"Apologies." Kaidan spoke up, sounding half stuck in the past himself. Still, she was thankful for it, wrestling her mind back to the present with his voice as a focal point. "I didn't mean to prod old wounds." She forced a wan smile for his benefit, and he matched the gesture and shrugged one shoulder as they picked up the pace again. "But," he said, after a pause, "After it all, you're still standing."

Instantly, her smile turned more sincere. She hadn't needed the reassurance, but that he thought to give it warmed her heart. Had he been more comfortable with her vampirism, she might've made a joke about how she might still be standing but to say she survived would be a stretch, but as it was she doubted that sort of humor would go over well. At least until he'd learned she wasn't a monster.


	9. Surviving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh... boy did I commit to this decision. Hope you guys are on board! I've got Plans. Trust. They might be shitty plans and they might fall through but they're there. We'll be back with our broody babies in no time.
> 
> Also, I welcome feedback in the comments! And by that I mean loving ones fuel me and gently helpful ones grow me :D Thanks for sticking around, you guys are the real MVPs.

Had she known how the day was going to go, Annette would have stayed in bed. She would have cancelled all her plans, and reconsidered her life. Since, it would seem, she was going to be rethinking her entire life anyway, it would have been nicer to do so in bed than in a line for execution.

Her hands were bound, there were archers posted on damned near every rooftop, and she had seen what would happen if she tried to run. Seconds slipped past like sand pouring through an hourglass, each grain burying her more deeply in desperation and hopelessness. She cast her eyes about frantically for the slightest hope of escape. 

She was unarmed and unarmored, but she'd managed to learn a couple spells from her time in High Rock. She was dreadful at most of them, the proof running up her arms in a pale, winding maze of scars from backfired magic, but she could summon a dagger and use it well enough. The soldiers might not even notice, if her hands were quick, but where would she go once she was unbound? Even if she could evade the guards down here, there were the archers to contend with, and she'd never make it clear in time. If she could figure out a path that would give her some cover then maybe--

They called her. Not by her name, they didn't have it, but by her race. _The Breton_ , the Captain had said, like that was all she meant to them. It didn't matter that she was born and raised in Cyrodiil, that she hated High Rock, that she hadn’t met a Breton she liked since her mother. They would have her remains returned to High Rock. She should have asked who in High Rock would accept them.

A guard shoved at her shoulder and she took a step forward, towards the block that was already stained with rebel blood. "I don't even know these people," she tried again. "I was just walking by!" Maybe if she plied the crowd, she could at least cause some kind of distraction and escape like that. 

The guard shoved her again harsher this time, and she said, more loudly, "you are going to kill an innocent person!" Okay, so it might've been an exaggeration, but she hadn't even done anything that bad in Skyrim yet. Even in High Rock, she couldn't imagine she'd stolen anything worth more than a thousand gold, and even that would've been a generous estimate. Probably.

There was a disapproving murmur from the townspeople that had gathered, and she heard one person laugh derisively and shout, "Death to the Stormcloaks!" This time, when the guard pushed her, she went quietly. There would be no help from these people. They had some story in their heads about the coming deaths that did more than absolve them, it excited them. It was horrifying to witness. Even when her eyes tilted downwards to find the previous victim's head in a box on the other side of the block, it was the malice of the people of Helgen that chilled her to the bone.

She shot a pleading look at the executioner, letting him see the tears in her eyes, searching his hood for any trace of humanity, anything at all to exploit, and her gaze caught on his wicked black and bloodstained axe.

This was it then. She'd been worried she'd starve. Or get eaten by animals. After being able to talk her way out of everything, she hadn't really even been that afraid of meeting bandits on the road. "You're a murderer." She choked at the figure looming above her as she took to her knees. "And I hope it fucking haunts you until you die too."

Distantly, she heard a bit of chatter as she locked eyes with the head in the box beneath her. She could smell the blood--his blood on the block, and was struck with the perverse image of her head next to his. She choked down a sob, squeezing her eyes shut and waited. 

And waited.

And then she saw something impossible swoop down from the mountains to the east. Her heart stopped. Her breathing stopped. She doubted her own eyes. It was madness, she was going mad, she couldn't have seen-- 

There came a terrible shriek and then a thunderous roar as a monstrous, jagged creature perched atop the tower, dwarfing it like an eagle on a fence post. She didn't even register the axe raising above her head or the rapidly devolving chaos of the soldiers behind her. There was a dragon. How could it be a dragon? Dragons were just legends. Excellent legends, maybe, but they weren't real. They couldn't be real.

"Hey, Breton!" The Nord from the cart leaned down into her peripheral vision, trying to get her attention off the dragon, who had begun its destruction of the town. "Get up! The gods won't give us another chance!"

She gave him a blank look, shocked beyond sense. He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards a tower, and then her legs started working again, but they felt distant, like someone else's legs, or like this whole thing was a dream. It had to be a dream. She would wake up in an inn, hungry, and only thinking she'd made it to the border when _all of this had to be just a dream_.

Reality slowly filtered through her consciousness, brought back by the sound of two men talking just inside the building they'd sheltered in. The man in armored finery that had been in the cart with them had ungagged himself and was ordering men up through the tower. She wanted nothing more than to get so far away she couldn't even remember passing through Helgen, but she was prepared to do whatever kept her surrounded by giant Nords the dragon was likely to see first. She followed.

Two thirds of the way up the stairs, the stone erupted beside them, crushing one man in rubble. She barely had time to stumble back against the wall out of the way, as she caught sight of the dragon's mouth. A split second later it spouted fire through the hole, filling the whole top of the tower and sucking the air from her lungs. She was frozen again, panting and flattened against the stone, her heart pounding louder in her ears than the cacophony outside.

The man who had dragged her from the block, whose name he must've mentioned before she almost died and then got attacked by a dragon, looked around frantically and his eyes, a pale, impossible blue that she found striking and reassuring in the chaos, stopped on her. They reminded her of what the sky should look like, when it wasn't raining fire, and it was a refreshing contrast that let her catch her breath for a moment.

"Jump through the roof, to the inn on the other side, and keep going."

" _What?!"_ She sputtered, finally finding her voice again, peeking through the hole left by the dragon to find the aforementioned inn, but with its roof and rafters ablaze. "Are you out of your _mind_?"

"I'll be right behind you. We can't stay here, look what that dragon does to these stone walls."

"Look what it does to _wood!_ " She gestured at the burning inn, panic climbing in her throat, beyond what she thought was even possible to feel.

"Best you be quick then." He glanced over his shoulder to where the wounded still remained. He turned back to her for a moment. "Don't stay there once you make it. Just jump through. Go now."

Annette swore and looked between him and the inn as he jogged back down the stairs to check in with the rebel leader. She climbed up into the hole, shaking, cursing under her breath at everything from dragons to gods to townsfolk, and tried to aim away from the fire.

She had never been a thrill seeker. An adventure seeker, or story seeker maybe, but thrills were far too exciting for her, and there was nothing pleasant about flying through the air and crashing through a smoldering roof. "Ow ow ow," she muttered, batting at and shaking cinders out of her clothes and wincing at the ache in her legs. She glanced up towards the tower as the dizzying realization dawned on her exactly how far she'd jumped before her eyes halted on the fire again.

"Sorry Stormcloaks," she shook her head, dismissing the instinct to wait for them and make sure they were safe too. She was in a burning building, she'd be stupid to stay. Even if that one guy had saved her life, say, three-ish times already. 

The only way down was to hop through a hole in the floor and she took it, landing more delicately this time, but still with lingering pain from the impact of the prior drop. She poked her head out past an opening in the wall just in time to see the dragon land in the road one house down. The house was closer than the dragon, but even with the tricky perspective, the dragon was nearly the size of it, massive enough to level the whole thing with one sweep of its tail. She ducked back behind the pillar and glanced back up towards where she'd come. No one followed.

After a moment, one of the voices outside called to her, and she recognized it as the man who'd ever so kindly offered to return her body to the second least favorite province she'd ever visited. It would've been first, but so far Skyrim was leaving a lot to be desired.

"Still alive, prisoner? Keep close to me if you want to stay that way."

She gritted her teeth at that, unappreciative of his tone, and of what sounded uncannily like a threat with the context that he'd tried to kill her once already, but far more unappreciative of the idea of being roasted alive. Begrudgingly, she complied, ducking out from her hiding spot as the dragon took to the air again and following the soldier to the left. She just needed to get to a gate and then she could make it away from the dragon and then… she'd be able to think again, be able to breathe again. 

She'd never seen Helgen before today, other than on the carriage ride, but she had little doubt it would be unrecognizable by now even if she had been familiar. The dragon flew above them, perching where it pleased to rain death upon them, or rip an opponent apart, before picking a new spot to devastate. She followed the soldier to a partially destroyed wooden walkway along a wall behind what might once have been houses. 

As she came to the wall, a shadow blocked out the sun and the nearby stone shuddered with impact, jarring loose pebbles and dust. Her heart caught in her throat and she dimly registered a voice shouting to stay close to the wall as a leathery wing like a shard of midnight swept down towards her. The only thought in her mind was to get out of the way and she backpedaled blindly, tripping off the smoldering, broken walkway and colliding with the wall just as a wing came down, trapping her between it and the stone.

Winded with the impact, and paralyzed with terror, her lungs burned for air for excruciating seconds before, almost quicker than they'd come, the wings vanished again. The soldier took off through the wreckage of one of the houses as she tried to will herself into motion. She made a keening whimper low in her throat as she lost sight of him and scrambled forward past a shooting pain in her leg, trying to keep up. Alone would be worse.

Annette limped up the stairs as fast as she could, using the stone foundation of the far house for support before turning towards the one the soldier had disappeared into. Just as she reached the threshold, the roof caved in and blocked the door. She cried out in shock and sprang back from the debris kicked up into the air by the collapse, barely catching herself before her leg gave out beneath her as she reflexively tried to put weight on it again.

Panic clouded her senses as her focus darted about, looking for another way around. The path back towards the main road was blocked by a pile of burning wreckage taller than she was, to the left was much the same. The broken walkway was to her right, but it was still burning. She might be able to climb back up but even if she could manage it without ghastly burns, where would she go from there? The soldier had run this way. She could scarcely even remember where the gates out of the city were at this point.

Smoke choked her lungs as she hyperventilated, pressing her back against the stone foundation she’d used to get up the stairs as the dragon made another lethal pass overhead. She slid down the wall, trying to think past the chaos. Could she fit underneath the roof and get back towards the road that way? No, the fire was even thicker down below. She considered the walkway again, burns wouldn’t be as bad as dying, would they?

She dragged herself back up the wall, shaking even worse than before, and made her way back down the steps, focusing on survival and nothing else. She doubted she presently had the capacity for much else.


	10. Saving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS. IS. HELGEN. *kicks door*
> 
> Thank you again, those of you who spend time on this with me, you are my sunshine.

The smell of smoke lingered, when it should have dissipated with the memory. It always had before when Soléne thought about the war or about her past. Sometimes she remembered things with such intensity it blocked out the present and smells were often a part of that, but usually the more intense parts of the memory vanished if she could anchor herself back in reality. She closed her eyes a moment and focused hard. 

There was a rumble at the edges of her hearing, and a sound she couldn’t recognize. Kaidan, a couple steps ahead, paused to look back at her and she saw her alarm mirrored on his face through a filter of confusion. 

“Can you hear that?” She asked him, quickening her pace up the hill, trying to find the balance between speed and endurance. “Or smell it?” She couldn’t imagine what it was, but it got louder the further they went along the path. 

“I can’t hear--” There was another unnatural screech and thunderous roar, and he cut himself off and snapped his head towards the east, in the direction of the sound. “Alright, I hear it.” His voice was low, wary, and he went for his sword as he put his back against the cliff to their left. The woods had thickened enough that it granted her a bit of cover if she kept to the side of the road as well and she seized the opportunity to move more quickly in the shadows.

“What is that?” She asked, as the road leveled out into a gentler slope and her eyes caught dark tendrils of smoke curling against the blinding white of the sky through the trees ahead.

“Dunno, but Helgen’s burning.” He gestured to the smoke, and she broke into a jog. They’d run out of shade, but if she pushed herself, she could make it to the gates before her stamina flagged. The road forked past a jutting spear of rock but they didn’t need the road when the smoke was such a clear guide.

Up a gentle hill, past the fork, sat the gates of Helgen. With the trees and boulders out of the way, the source of the smoke was unmistakable. Now that they were close enough, she heard the cries of men blending with whatever creature was making the rest of the sounds. But too few of them, she realized grimly, not nearly enough noise for an entire town. Though the town was in sight, the distance seemed like miles as they closed it, and then a shadow rose above the wall.

Something that was black and gnarled spread massive wings and took flight, as though from a nightmare. Soléne froze in her tracks, staring at it as it climbed through the air, followed it into the sky until the light made her eyes sting.

“What in Oblivion…” Kaidan breathed from behind her, tracing the creature with his gaze as it swept over them to the northeast, and she took the smallest, most pathetic amount of reassurance from the knowledge that he’d seen it too. Or… at least it seemed like he had. It couldn’t really have been what they thought it had. That would certainly be madness.

“The town is still burning.” She said aloud, to refocus herself as much as him, and started towards the town again, breaking into a run. 

He caught up with her without effort. “But--Wait, can’t the fire--”

“I couldn’t give a shit about that right now,” She snapped, blowing the gates open with a burst of telekinetic energy. 

Immediately to the left of the gate, there was a building on fire. Another, directly ahead, and then past that, wreckage such that she could scarcely pick apart what rubble used to belong where. If she’d come upon this scenario in the middle of the night, she wouldn’t have needed to think twice about putting out the fires, but the sun was only just past its zenith and she couldn’t waste energy on buildings when she needed to save it for possible survivors.

The draft from the gate’s opening sent smoke swirling around her, bringing with it the smell of charred corpses and death. It hit her like a blade to the chest as she struggled to reconcile the Helgen she’d passed through with the destruction before her now. She had thought, upon waking, that the prison had fared the past four months poorly. This was something else entirely.

Almost aimlessly, she wandered through the ruined stone and charred timbers, all her senses reaching out for signs of life beneath the still-crackling flames. Picking out the sound of rapid heartbeats and quiet sobs behind a line of ruined houses, Soléne sprinted forward but stalled when she couldn’t find a path through. “Hello?” She called through the wreckage, and then to Kaidan, “Can you move any of this? I can’t do as much during the day.” Even so, she set to moving what she could as he pitched in.

“H-hello?” A voice called back, panicked, feminine, and pained. “Please help, there’s-- there’s broken buildings everywhere and I can’t get out.

“Are you injured?” Soléne called back, trying to ration her energy in case she needed to save some for healing spells.

“I.. I am. My leg--I twisted my ankle. And I have burns.”

Cursing under her breath, Soléne glanced at Kaidan, and they both picked up the pace. “How bad?”

A pause. “Please don’t leave.”

Soléne gritted her teeth and blasted the rubble with frost. Time might be worth more than magicka reserves at this point. With the flames out, she hopped deftly over the rest of the barrier and spotted a young Breton woman crouching against a stone wall.

She looked up, and Soléne noticed her eyes were rimmed with red and there were smudged trails down her face where tears had washed away soot. She made no attempt to stand, instead just fixing her with a pleading look. “I think everyone’s dead.”

“ _You’re_ still alive,” she reminded the girl sternly, holding out a hand to help her up.

She looked down at her own hands and then held them out to Soléne palms up, revealing new blisters and old scars, and made to help herself up without using her hands while favoring one of her legs. Soléne winced sympathetically and used the last of her magicka to patch up the burns.

“Here,” She said, producing the potion Kaidan had tossed her in the prison. It was likely to do more good on a living person anyway, and who knew when any of them would be able to rest again.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. Hello. I love you, thank you for tuning in. 
> 
> Also... I'm not sure about this title scheme I've got going on. Would you be disappointed if I... stopped? Like, I'm still new to posting my writing (in general, let alone here) and I thought I had to fill out all the boxes but I didn't realize how many chapters there would be and how fast it would get old.
> 
> Lemme know your thoughts! I want to hear them! :D (Comments also let me know you're still here c: ) Also, just a reminder that you can catch me ~~whining about the editing process~~ posting updates to my tumblr if you're into that. Thanks again!

Kaidan had made enough of a path through the rubble that he could follow as the girl drank the potion. Soléne avoided his eyes when he fixed her with a glare, and kept her focus instead on the only survivor they could find, who sighed as she finished the potion and dropped her head into her newly healed hands. 

“What happened?” He asked the girl after a moment, his tone guarded but not disagreeable.

“I--Shit.” She glanced at him as she spoke, before looking away again and taking in the remnants of the city around them. “There was a dragon,” she managed after a couple seconds of visibly struggling to process recent events. “A--A real dragon. And it just…” She gestured at the wreckage.

Soléne sighed this time. “We saw it coming up the hill. We just… couldn’t get here in time.” _Just like always,_ she found herself thinking with a hint of bitterness and even more regret.

“I don’t know what you could have done. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve barely even _read_ anything like it.” She paused, watching her fingers flex with a dazed expression, before looking up at their healer like she was seeing her for the first time. “I--I’m sorry, I should’ve thanked you. I’m Annette.”

“Oh, nice to--Well, I mean… I’m Soléne.” Had it really been so long since she’d tried to interact with strangers? She didn’t remember it being this hard in Cyrodiil. “This is--”

“Kaidan. Now that we’re done with introductions, I don’t like the idea of hanging around here."

Annette gave him a stricken look and then scanned the sky for the dragon. “Would it come back?” 

"There's nothing here for it to come back to," Soléne said quickly in attempted reassurance, then winced at her bluntness.

"Aye," Kaidan cut in before she could correct herself, "But how many bandits do you think want to come and pick through whatever's left, eh? How many miles out do you reckon that smoke--"

"Fine," she interrupted, rolling her eyes slightly. It was a fair point, she didn't need him to drive it home that hard in front of an already panicked witness to this mess who would likely need an escort to safety. "Can you move?" Soléne turned from Kaidan to Annette, giving her a quick once-over. She was in prisoner's rags with holes scorched through here and there, and when Annette pushed a tangled curl out of her face, Soléne noticed some blood from a cut to her forehead that the potion must have taken care of.

"Yeah." Resolve mingled with the relief in her voice, as Annette gingerly tested her weight on the stairs towards the path Kaidan had cleared. "Thanks. Again." 

Soléne fell into step behind her, ready to steady her if her leg gave out and mentally said her own thanks that they had at least managed to save one person, as Kaidan brought up the rear. 

\---

They left the town in silence, and Kaidan almost spoke up to suggest they tell the jarl he'd lost a village, or warn the nearest settlements, but they'd already headed in that direction before he could mention it. He lost himself in his thoughts, dredging his memories for any shred of information about dragons.

He'd never had much time for legends, Brynjar kept him too busy for that, but the old man himself had a few tall tales Kaidan remembered him telling by the fire at night. None about meeting any dragons, but about how the Akaviri had a history of fighting them, about King Olaf and Dragonsreach. He tried to imagine fighting the one they'd seen fly overhead towards the barrow to the north. Arrows wouldn't do much to bring it down. Even a spear would need close range or perfect aim, if it had a chance at all. It might be able to punch through a wing, but he doubted it would do enough damage to ground it. Heavy artillery would likely be too slow. He didn’t like not having a good answer.

“Hey,” Soléne’s voice pulled him from his musing, and he brought himself back to the present to see her matching pace with the other breton, her head tilted with concern.

“Are you alright to make it home on your own or do you need help?” 

Annette scoffed and shot back a wry twist of her mouth that wasn’t quite a grin. “Whew. Home.” She fell quiet for a moment and Kaidan narrowed his eyes at the both of them. He hadn’t signed on for this. He had no issue with helping people here and there, but he was still trying to decide if he trusted this vampire around himself let alone anyone less prepared to defend themselves. He’d killed vampires before, he had little doubt he could best her in a straight fight, but he was less confident in any defense against her potential for subversion.

He had accepted the possibility that he might need to defend her against combatants to make good his oath, and that he’d need to travel with her to do it. He’d even accepted that those combatants might be city guards or Vigilants if it came to it. But he hated the idea of being in a position where he might need to choose between the safety of a potential innocent victim and the debt he owed a vampire.

He should have said something back by Leyawiin. It was a stain on his honor and his conscience, and he’d sworn to himself that he would never again stand by and allow… the things he had allowed in the past. A part of him wanted to trust her, wanted to believe she was more helpful than dangerous. Another part tempered that with the knowledge that guile was a vampire’s weapon as much as strength and speed were. And even smaller, somewhere deep down, there was a part of him that didn’t dare to hope.

“I’m not from here,” Annette finally answered, taking another few steps before she stopped walking as they came to the fork in the road. “I’m actually not even sure where I’m going, I just… didn’t want to smell smoke anymore.” She shook her head at that, sheepish and strained, and then glanced back up the path towards Helgen.

Kaidan sighed as Soléne just fixed her with a sympathetic look. “Better warn people. Helgen is… was in Falkreath Hold. The nearest town is Riverwood, just there. That’s in Whiterun Hold.” He motioned back down the road the two of them had traveled that morning.

Soléne followed his gesture and then snapped her eyes back to him. “Wait, was that where the dragon headed?”

“Aye, it was.” He held her gaze for a moment, and he already knew her well enough to know that’s where she was going. That was another thing he didn’t sign up for, her running after everything like she wanted him to just save her life already and get it over with or something. He’d met stupid vampires, and arrogant ones, and ones that seemed feral, but he hadn’t met any altruistic ones who apparently had a death wish.

“Great, let’s _not_ go that way, right?” Annette chimed in, covering the rising stress in her tone with feigned hope.

He glanced towards her for a second and caught her looking between them uncomfortably before he turned his eyes back to Soléne. She had saved him, he would follow her. Even if she did want to make questionable choices.

“We have to warn them.” Soléne stated simply in answer and started down the road towards Riverwood with Kaidan behind her, and Annette hesitantly trailing after.

“Uh, listen,” she began, with barely constrained alarm. “Don’t get me wrong, I am very appreciative, but I was under the impression the sane thing to do was to get away from the dragon, not _go towards it_. So why… are we…”

Soléne stopped and fixed her with a fierce look Kaidan hadn’t seen her make before. It reminded him of her why-are-you-asking-about-vampirism-again face, but scaled up in intensity. He stopped too, watching with interest. “I’m so pleased we were able to get to you in time. I’d like to get to them,” she gestured towards Riverwood, the sharpness in her motions more sincere than the cool politeness in her words, “in time too.”

Annette swallowed hard and they stared at each other long enough that Kaidan’s surprised amusement at Soléne being frustrated at someone other than him started to tip over into concern. Finally, their most recent addition held up her hands and Soléne started walking again.

“I’m sure you’ll be okay on your own from here, if you’d like to make ‘the sane decision’,” she echoed, already a couple paces ahead. 

Kaidan shrugged at Annette and started walking too. He didn't like leaving her there like that, but they were two killers headed towards a dragon. She might well be safer alone on the road than she would be with them. After a moment, he heard her jog to catch up.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I asked in the last chapter if anyone would miss my chapter titles and nobody said they would so... *sneakily stops using them* I'm still learning okay, idk what I'm doing, don't let me fool you.
> 
> Anyway, I think going forward my goal is to update weekly, perhaps a twice weekly if I'm really feeling it. That way I have more of a timeline for myself and can do other things instead of my deadline being a vague ASAP and it taking up all my time. I have to, like... eat and stuff too, lame. Someone needs to get me Sotha Sil's number so I can get a robot body instead. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Lemme know your thoughts!

Of course they were crazy. Because nothing else had made sense since she'd run into that ambush, so why would this? Getting rescued from her second near death experience in as many hours by a weird, giant man and a weird, tiny lady--at least one of whom, Annette was pretty sure was a vampire--was apparently just the new normal now. After getting attacked by a damned dragon, she didn't think she had it in her to muster shock or dismay for anything else.

Or she was still dreaming. That seemed more likely than any of this. She begrudgingly trailed a distance behind them, supposing she could at least let them clear the way to the nearest town for her. A summoned dagger wouldn't do much good against a bear or even a wolf, especially lacking any real skill in its use, and the rags she still wore would be poor protection. Pretty much the only thing keeping her moving at this point was an idle wonder about when she was going to wake up. 

Silence stretched uncomfortably as they descended the slope, and Annette filled it by focusing on anything other than recent events, from the scenery to the two people in front of her. She liked Imperials best, she figured, other Bretons were too haughty and Nords were like raucous parties thoroughly enjoyed but best in moderation. But the landscape of Skyrim, vivid and wild and so much more varied than she expected, was worth the stubborn and boisterous nature of its people. 

She sighed as she walked, not entirely free of the smoke that lingered on her clothes and in her hair, but drinking in the scent of flowers on the breeze, the mist that rose above the waterfalls, and the sharp striking contrast of being so incredibly alive after being so sure, for what seemed like hours, that she wasn't going to survive another minute.

As breathtaking as the environment was, as inspiring as her survival had been, the peace of their surroundings sat wrong with her. Birds had even resumed their song. It almost felt as though Helgen had never happened. And she desperately wanted to believe it hadn’t, but she was bereft of all her belongings and, though her hands felt fine now, the remembered pain lingered. And, if Helgen hadn't happened, she'd still be alone. She wasn't sure present company was an improvement, but she did feel safer in a group. Otherwise, she felt like she had to tiptoe everywhere. 

Her focus shifted to her temporary traveling companions. Maybe the dragon would see them first, if it came back. Kaidan's armor was pretty shiny, maybe that'd do it. He was easily twice her size, and surly looking but not necessarily in a bad way. Actually it kind of worked for him, but he was too inscrutable for her to be comfortable. She was of a height with Soléne, give or take a couple inches, but it was hard to tell who was taller, Annette might have said herself but it had been years since she'd felt as properly chastised and childish as she had a moment ago. They both had straight dark hair, worn long and pulled back, though Kaidan's was more of an inky black and Soléne's was a few shades lighter and closer to the color of plain coffee. His brushed his shoulders, and Soléne's her waist. The similarities made her wonder how long they'd been traveling together. Her mind drifted to the way they'd bickered in Helgen.

They stood too far apart to be very familiar, and she noticed Kaidan checking his stride periodically as if to not outpace them. It looked like a familiar motion but not familiar enough to be second nature yet. She'd guess maybe less than a month but more than a week.

Both traveling companions also had red eyes, but Kaidan's were normal. When Soléne had stared her down earlier, it almost looked like her pupils had more a slit shape to them than a round one. It was unnerving, particularly if she was the type of vampire who stayed mad. She resolved to either make amends or part ways in town.

\---

Riverwood was busier now than when they passed through that morning, but just as undisturbed as the wilds outside Helgen had been. The mill had come to life and the road bustled with men and women at work. Children played chase around the yards with a tall, spindly, shaggy dog barking playfully at their heels.

Soléne paused at the gate with a heavy but relieved heart. They were safe. They weren't even bothered. But how long would that last? She had seen peace crumble too many times to be ignorant of how fragile it could be. She sighed and headed for the blacksmith. If nothing else, he seemed most likely to know who she should tell.

He looked up as she approached but stayed seated at his grindstone. “Need something, stranger?”

“I have terrible news.” She came just close enough to speak quietly, hoping the lengthening shadow and dimming light would hide the details of her face enough that she didn't alarm the smith for the wrong reasons. Kaidan lingered by the steps and she caught him sharing a glance with the Breton they saved from Helgen, but her focus was on the people of Riverwood. “A dragon has attacked Helgen. It’s… in ruins.”

The wheel squeaked to a halt. _“What?”_ He breathed, putting a hand to his forehead and then raking it through his hair. “A dragon destroyed Helgen?” He got ponderously to his feet, processing the news and setting the blade he'd been working down on a nearby table. "I... thought I saw one flying down the valley from the south earlier. I was hoping I was wrong about what I thought it was.”

“You saw it then?” She asked reluctantly, feeling the corners of her mouth tighten in a mix of sympathy and frustrated helplessness. “It looked to be headed this way.”

He walked past her to lean against the pillar by the forge and sighed as he watched the children play. “Damn it… Didn’t want to believe my own eyes, I guess.” He turned to her, despair and concern lining his brow. “A dragon, here in Skyrim… What’s this world coming to? First the war, now dragons?” 

“Trouble loves company, they say,” he continued, shaking his head when she just shrugged forlornly in agreement. “The Jarl needs to know if there’s a dragon on the loose. Riverwood is defenseless.” Her heart sank, but he continued. “We need to get word to Jarl Balgruuf in Whiterun to send whatever soldiers he can. If you’ll do that for me, and for my girl there--” he nodded his chin towards where the children had stopped and a little Nord girl was arguing with a boy, her arms folded over her chest and her chin in the air. “I’ll be in your debt.” 

“Oh, I don’t--” She almost refused payment or gratitude, after all, spreading word was the least she could do. She doubted--even now, with pink and purple hues streaking through the blinding blue of the sky and shade stretching long across the path--that there was much chance against a creature such as that. “Of course. I wish I could do more,” she answered instead, remembering she had to consider Kaidan’s needs as well for the time being.

He nodded to her in thanks and parted with directions and farewells and she turned back to Kaidan with weariness in the set of her shoulders.

It was mirrored in his posture, and in the shadows below his eyes, but he gave her a questioning look anyway. She contemplated him for a moment and then searched for the girl that had come with them, expecting he’d need a rest and she probably deserved a bit more sympathy after surviving Helgen.

“Where’s Annette?”

Kaidan shrugged. “Said thanks for walking her here but she wanted to stay in town a while.”

She tilted her head at him quizzically and then shrugged too, shifting her focus to the road. “Probably better that way.” He looked like he could probably do to spend the night in town too. She couldn’t imagine when he’d last slept. Or eaten. “How are you? Feeling up for the trip to Whiterun tonight or would you rather wait until morning?”

He tsked at her like she should've known better, shouldering off his leaning spot and starting down the steps. “I can eat on the road. What about you?” He asked, as she followed, and then continued in a lower tone. “You hunting again tonight?”

She paused, wrong-footed, trying to assess the motivations behind the question. Was he asking if she would need him? Or was he asking if she was a threat? The sun was nearly below the horizon. People that had been crowding the streets on their way home for dinner had mostly reached their destinations and Riverwood was quieting down again. Whether or not the streets were empty, she was hesitant to discuss these things so openly in town, and maybe a little in general if she was being honest with herself. At least when she was still trying to figure out how comfortable someone was. Though, she did appreciate his somewhat vague phrasing.

“Yeah,” she sighed eventually as they left town. “I’d expect so.” She paused again, but just for a beat this time, “But I--You’re welcome to rest in Whiterun.”

He nodded and then fell quiet for a moment, stealing a glance at her as they walked. “So do you only hunt bandits or…?”

She gave him a tentative smile. “Mostly. Why, you wondering if you look appetizing?”

He scoffed at that, shaking his head with a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. She cheered internally, considering it a warm enough reception, despite the way he drifted a little closer to the far side of the path. “No. And don’t try it either.” She averted her eyes with a grin of her own and held her hands up for a second in exaggerated surrender.

The rest of the trip passed in a silence that was their most companionable so far.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I might actually have this posted in time for my self-imposed weekly deadline! Who even am I, what is this

It was about 9pm when they crossed the drawbridge and a guard hailed them from his post by the entrance to the city. She pressed her lips together, taking a deep breath in preparation as he approached.

"Halt. City's closed with the dragons about, official business only."

She heard Kaidan grit his teeth behind her and she splayed her hands to show she was unarmed. “Of course, sir, but I must speak with the jarl at once.” His eyes narrowed behind his helmet. “I have urgent news from Helgen and Riverwood,” she added, and after no further response was forthcoming, “Helgen is _gone_ and Riverwood is defenseless.” She heard his breath hitch and his heartbeat pick up as he scanned the night sky and then looked back at his companion, who shrugged from her position at the far side of the gate, before he finally shook his head.

“Alright, fine. But you go straight to Dragonsreach, no lollygagging.” The guard unlocked the gate and signaled to another posted on the interior to keep an eye on them. Hesitation such as this wasn’t terribly new to her, but given the context, it chafed more than usual. How many people would have died if she hadn’t been able to convince the guard? How many refugees had they already turned away? How many traders? There had been tents outside the city, she remembered, had they been refugees? 

Part of her understood the city would be overrun if they let everyone in, but she and Kaidan had news from the south. That they had almost been turned away sat wrong with her, and she found herself wondering if this jarl was cold or simply committed to ignorance. Or was it just his guards?

Between the exchange at the gate and the walk through the city, night had fallen in proper by the time they got to the jarl’s palace. The guard saw them to the door and then scurried off back down the stone steps. She looked after him for a moment, inquisitive, before shrugging it off and pushing open the massive doors.

They were barely inside when a Dunmer woman met them at the top of the stairs, the glow from the firepit casting her dark skin in gold hues and reflecting off the bared steel of the sword she held at the ready.

"What's the meaning of this? Jarl Balgruuf is not taking visitors."

Soléne held her hands up again, surprise adding sincerity to what otherwise would have been yet another intentionally disarming gesture.

“Whoa, I- I just came from Helgen.” Regaining her mental balance, she gave the sword a pointed look before turning her eyes to its owner expectantly. “It’s been destroyed by a dragon. And it was headed in this direction.” Trepidation was fair, under normal circumstances, and greetings like these were why she usually kept to the outskirts of cities instead of trying to speak to their leaders. But this was an emergency, and a terrible place to get into a fight.

A huge firepit blazed just behind the Dunmer woman, they were outnumbered, she had the drop on them, braziers lined the hall, _and_ most of the furnishings were wood. No, it would be far better to resolve this peacefully. It wasn’t as bad as it could be it, she'd had gotten out of scraps like this before. Though, thinking back, if this was their captain, then it was no wonder the guards were more afraid of _her_ than the dragon.

"You were at Helgen?" The Dunmer jerked her chin at them without lowering her weapon.

"Saw the dragon with our own eyes," Kaidan ground out behind her, but she didn't dare look at him. Looking at him would mean taking her eyes off the other woman instead of willing her to disarm, and she wasn't ready to do that just yet.

Resheathing her sword with a sigh, the Dunmer narrowed her eyes at them. "Then the jarl will want to speak to you personally. Come along."

Soléne heard the gentle clink and rustle of armor and cloth behind her and finally glanced back to see Kaidan releasing his sword too. She let out a breath reflexively, and gave him an exasperated look. The one he returned was tougher to read, and she didn't have time to try as she followed the elf the rest of the way up the stairs to the hall. All this, just to warn these fool people. Honestly, moments like this were the rare times she started to understand why other vampires secluded themselves entirely.

The throne at the end of the hall was empty, but she heard raised voices from above. The elf led them along the right side of the hall and then up a narrow staircase set into the back wall towards the voices.

"...If the news from Helgen is true, there's no telling what it could mean." Older, Imperial, if she were to guess by the accent, with the diction of someone well-educated.

"What would you have me do, then? Nothing?" The barked response was Nordic in accent, tone and demeanor, and, as the wall opened up at the top of the stairs, it was fairly easy to tell who was speaking.

"My lord, please, this is no time for rash action. I just think we need more information before we act! I just--" the Imperial interrupted himself, looking up as he spotted their approach.

"Who is this, then?" The Nord turned to face them, fatigue and irritation heavy in his tone.

"They came from Helgen, my jarl." The elf shot them a look. "So they said."

"Helgen?" The Nord, Jarl Balgruuf, raised his eyebrows. His office was clear in the well-wrought gold crown holding back his sandy mane and the ornate clothing he wore that stood in sharp contrast to Riverwood's rustic charm. The Imperial came around the table, abandoning a map they'd been pouring over, and she saw he was well dressed also, though not to the same degree. "What news? Was it a dragon?"

"Yes, sir," Soléne said, doing her best to observe custom and manners, as the Dunmer woman moved past her to stand by the jarl and fixed her with a steely glower. "Helgen was destroyed and Riverwood calls for aid."

"By Ysmir, Irileth was right!" The jarl rounded on the Imperial as the elf looked grimly validated. That was Irileth then, she figured. "What say you now, Proventus? Shall we continue to trust in the strength of our walls? Against a dragon?" Soléne exchanged a look with Kaidan and realized, with a moment of awkwardness, that it didn't look like he knew whether or not they were still needed either.

The Imperial, Proventus, quailed under the pressure and opened his mouth to speak, but Irileth interrupted him.

"My lord, we should send troops to Riverwood at once. It's in the most immediate danger. If that dragon is lurking in the mountains--"

"The Jarl of Falkreath will view that as provocation!" Proventus sputtered, gesturing to the map on the table behind them. "He'll assume we're planning to join Ulfric's side and attack him. We should not--"

"Enough!" The jarl boomed, cutting off further debate. "I'll not stand idly by, while a dragon burns my hold and slaughters my people!" Her disdain for the nobility of Whiterun lessened somewhat as he continued. "Irileth, send a detachment to Riverwood at once."

"Yes, my jarl," the elf agreed, dipping her head in a short bow but hesitated. She leaned in to mutter in his ear, and Soléne eavesdropped, curiosity piqued. "Take care with this one, Balgruuf. Don't like the look of her." Jarl Balgruuf gave her shoulder a light shove and she bowed again before striding back towards the stairway.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll return to my duties." Proventus's words were deferential enough but there was a sullen hint to them.

"Not yet, Avenicci." The jarl held up a hand and the imperial nodded and lingered, as the two finally turned back to Kaidan and Soléne. "You sought me out on your own initiative. You've done Whiterun a service, and I won't forget it. Please, enjoy my hospitality for the night, and we can discuss this matter, and others, in the morning."

Soléne opened her mouth and then closed it again to check in with Kaidan instead. He was quiet a moment, looking between her and Balgruuf, before he shrugged.

"You throw in a hot meal and I'll do whatever you want." She had the sneaking suspicion that his flippant attitude was at least partly feigned, but also that he wouldn't take well to prying about it. She let it lie.

"Good man," the jarl grinned and clapped him on the shoulder before sighing. "Proventus, see to our guests. Thank you," he said again before bidding them goodnight and promising they'd get back to talks early tomorrow.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I'm impressed with myself I had this up on time, it was hard this week. Hurrah! Anyway, thanks for reading and for comments, you guys give me life.

Once they'd been set up with their rooms and stood alone in the hall, Soléne turned to Kaidan. "I hope you don't mind the accommodations. I… had planned on an inn or something but…"

"Didn't think I'd ever stay in a castle. Least not one with people still living in it."

She wondered at that for a moment--how often did he stay in empty ones?--but didn't outwardly question it. "How's it find you?" She asked instead.

He shrugged agreeably. "Still gonna sleep with my sword, but can't say I mind too much."

An uneven smile pulled at the corner of her mouth as they slipped into a lull in conversation. When it lingered, she gave him a nod goodnight and started back towards her room.

"Wait," he called her back. "I might not have any fondness for these people here but--"

"But don't kill them all while you're sleeping?" She finished dryly, robbing him of the chance for delicate phrasing. He went quiet for a moment, with a slightly guilty look that said she was on target.

"Listen. I'm not judging," he repeated, not off to the best start, when it was clear there was at least _some_ judging, but she figured he must have a reason he seemed to be trying not to. She raised an eyebrow as he paused, amused and waiting him out. "I just… don't get yourself into anything, alright? Let me pay you back like I said."

His tone was sobering, and she dropped the cheekiness to give him a sigh. "Kaidan, I got along okay before I met you," she gently reminded him. It was his turn to raise an eyebrow.

"The way you charged into Helgen like that, I'm not sure how. That a pattern for you?"

Her jaw went slack for an instant before she had a snappy retort ready. "What, did I worry you?"

"Aye, you worry me." He agreed, shaking his head but matching her humor. She paused, trying to figure out how he meant that, and he waved her off. "So, are you going back out still? Or…?"

Again, she sobered. "I have to. The jarl will notice tomorrow if I haven't fed. You saw, it gets harder to hide the longer it's been."

"I wasn't sure I did. Thought it was a trick of the light." He paused, narrowing his eyes at her, and she could tell he was looking at the way her cheeks had begun to hollow again, the shadows blooming beneath her eyes, the way any rosy tint in her skin had likely faded some hours ago. "Let me come with you."

"Rest," she shook her head, surprised but insistent. "And eat the food they sent up before it gets cold. I'll be back shortly."

He regarded her a moment, considering, and then sighed. "If you leave me here in this castle for too long…"

"You'll move in?"

He scoffed, then shuddered at the thought. "I'll go mad, more like."

She smiled and bid him good night, heading for her room where the steward had sent up her portion of the meal Kaidan had requested. Most of the food would keep for a bit, she noticed, as she packed it up.

It was a trick she'd learned early on that people starving on the streets had more currency than they thought they did, depending on who wanted to barter. It was a rare beggar that wouldn't trade blood for a meal or a warm bed, and she made sure they didn't suffer any aftereffects from their generosity. Plus, if she could find a meal nearby instead of traveling far from the city, she might be able to get some rest in herself that wasn't a blood-starved coma.

\---

They met the jarl around midday, not long before dinner. When Soléne had returned to Dragonsreach late the previous night after her brief walk about the city, she'd found the hallway in which she and Kaidan had spent the night especially well guarded. They hadn't troubled her, but they had watched closely. She supposed it was that Dunmer's doing, and though it chafed her pride a little that they didn't take her helpfulness at face value, she understood. In truth, she even respected it a bit. Additionally, she hadn't known Nords and Dunmer to have good relations, but clearly these two did. Loyalty and good sense were some of Soléne's favorite traits to see in people, and she found herself warming to the both of them.

Kaidan was wearing new clothes beneath his armor, though still dark in color, and his hair was neater today but he seemed to favor leaving the front loose, and she wondered if it was to cover his tattoo or the strangeness of his features, or if it was simple preference. He smelled different today too, not unlike her own bath water had. It was a chore to drag her focus back to the meeting with the jarl's court wizard.

She spent most of the meeting with her lips pressed together in a mild but icy smile, trying to ignore everything he said except the important bits. With the jarl updated, he'd sent them to assist this insufferable robed goat with his project involving dragons. They would need to head back south and enter the Nordic ruin they'd passed near Riverwood, in search of a stone map of sorts that could provide insight into the dragon's attacks. That "may or may not be there." Remembering his phrasing sent irritation bubbling up her chest again. She did have plenty of time for wild goose chases, but she doubted she could say the same about the rest of the hold of Whiterun. Or of Falkreath.

One of the jarl’s maids had been kind enough to tailor a set of clothes to fit her from the jarl’s household before she met with the man himself and Kaidan had been sent off with a few meals by one of the other maids who had taken a liking to him, but there were still some things she needed to attend to before they left town.

Irileth stopped them near the door back out to the city with her arms crossed over her chest and her jaw set. “I understand the jarl has tasked you with retrieving something for him.”

Soléne nodded politely, lips pressed tightly together. This elf already didn’t like her, the last thing she needed was some sort of altercation on their way out. She noted as critical eyes swept over her shoulder to fix Kaidan with a glare too.

“See to it that you don’t return without it. Your kind are not welcome here.”

Soléne opened her mouth to respond with something vaguely affirmative just to silence her and get on their way but Kaidan spoke up with derision from behind her.

“Our kind? What does that even mean?”

“Kaidan, please,” Soléne shot him a strained look and then pointedly darted her eyes to the door and back to him, hoping he’d catch on that she was just trying to make it outside. This had been a poor area for a fight the previous night, but it would be worse now without the option to flee into the darkness.

She heard him grit his teeth again, but turned back to Irileth as he fell quiet. “Of course. Lovely speaking with you again.” She gave a shallow bow, low enough to show some deference but not low enough to ask for a beheading, to which the elf only responded with a glower, and delicately made her way around to the door, only just managing to keep the irony out of her tone as she pushed it open. “Stay well.”

The sun stabbed at her eyes as she passed from beneath the covered bridge outside Dragonsreach and she blinked rapidly, trying to get her eyes to adjust but unwilling to wait long enough to let them. Even with the beginnings of a headache starting just behind her eye sockets, she was pleased to be out of Dragonsreach. Between dodging condescension on one side and paranoia on the other, she relished the idea of being out of town for a little while, even if it was just to dig some stone out of a ruin.

Kaidan was quiet and just sighed at her whenever she tried to meet his eyes. She figured if there was something on his mind, he would make it known if he wanted to do so, and headed for the apothecary. The marketplace was fragrant and bustling and everyone was taller than she was. Navigating a crowd at near elbow height after being told “her kind” was only good for “fetching” did nothing for her mood. At least they seemed willing enough to avoid Kaidan that she wasn't terribly jostled if she stuck close.

The apothecary gave her a look that made her nervous, but Soléne was reassured when the woman merely suggested she was ill instead of refusing service. She'd learned a few tricks about how to preserve blood in vials that could sate her thirst when she was unable to feed. If dragons were to be the norm, and if she'd be spending as much time in the daylight as she had been lately, she would need to plan accordingly. Preserved blood was worse than animal blood, even if reheated, but it was more practical.

Mercifully, their quest had come with a map, complete with Bleak Falls Barrow marked just up the mountain from Riverwood. She also picked up a proper traveling pack and got rid of the one she'd improvised. Initially, she was pleased to see another Breton behind the counter of the general goods store, but he seemed a bit disagreeable. Merchants in Skyrim seemed almost as cutthroat as merchants in High Rock and it surprised her. She’d been imagining Skyrim as a bit more of a backwater. Once she'd bought a pair of soft leather boots that fit better than anything the jarl's household had on hand, they were ready.

"Falkreath has a jarl too, doesn't it?" she asked Kaidan, remembering him mentioning that Helgen was part of the south-most hold.

"Aye," he answered with a dubious tone she couldn't quite figure out.

"Shouldn't we warn them too then?"

He rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Don’t expect much.”

She nodded slowly at that, taking note, but with her decision made. "He should know if he doesn't already." It was tough to tell if he agreed, but he followed nonetheless.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay,  
> 1: idk if they have housecarls in High Rock, I did a bunch of research and couldn't find anything conclusive, so I decided that for the sake of fun dialogue, there aren't any. Fun dialogue prevails.  
> 2: welllllll… 8 days is still weekly right? Sure it is. Just ask the Beatles  
> 3: apologies in advance, because things will probably continue being late pretty often. I have a disability that affects my energy levels and ability to focus so writing can be hard. I want to be writing, but sometimes it's all I can do to make it through the day.  
> 4: thanks for understanding and for sticking around! I love you all and you're great. :D

They were passing the farms outside the city when Kaidan finally spoke up. “Why’d you let her talk to you like that? The housecarl.”

“What’s a house Carl?” Soléne tilted her head to look up at him.

“It’s a… like a bodyguard for the jarl.”

She hmm’ed at that. “Oh, you mean the elf. I thought she was guard captain or something.”

“No, the guard captain there is useless. She’s the jarl’s housecarl. Heard of her, but never seen her before. Why didn’t you say something to her?” There was less accusation in his tone than she’d been expecting, and, what surprised her even more, was the way he seemed offended on her behalf. She already found him agreeable enough, but it endeared him to her a little more than she was ready for.

She chuckled lightly and shrugged at him. “To what end? We were on our way out anyway.” He gave her a skeptical look and she sighed. “Besides, I think that’s just how they say hello in Morrowind.”

“Pfff, ha.” A grin bloomed across his face. “Is that right? You spend much time there?”

“Well, long enough. They _really_ don’t like vampires there. At all. Things were… a little different just after the Red Year, when people had more need than discrimination, but…” She shrugged, remembering how clear it had become after a point that Morrowind was done accepting aid from outsiders, especially undead ones. She understood their pain, and their barbs had stung less with the understanding. She also understood their feelings about those like her, to a degree, and she understood that there was a point at which her staying would have caused more issues than she was solving. So she’d left. And then… Well. Perhaps her time in Morrowind had affected her more than she thought.

They’d reached the sign post again by the time Kaidan pulled her out of her thoughts. “You aren’t like other vampires, are you?” She could hear the hesitation in his tone, like he wasn’t sure if he believed it, or maybe was just trying to get his head around it. The corner of her mouth twitched up into a small, distant smile as she pulled her mind back to the present to give him an answer.

Strange that he should ask now, as she was thinking about the time in her life that was least true. She had been nearly an animal then. Without the distraction of relief efforts in Morrowind, it drove home that she had nothing left on Nirn and even the turn of the era had left her behind. Even her memories of that time were blurred. She heaved a heavy sigh and let it out slowly, more to reset her mind than anything else.

“I don’t know. I’ve met some that are better than I am. Counts and Knights and… decent people.” Her memories lingered there anyway, despite her efforts to keep her head above the nostalgia. A sliver of guilt worked its way into her chest when she remembered the message from Winterhold awaited by one of those old friends. She could hardly put this dragon issue aside to deliver it in person, but she’d have to at least send a letter. It helped little that her trip to Skyrim hadn’t changed the message, Winterhold still wasn’t interested in politics, but at least no one was expecting anything new.

“You seem decent to me,” he returned a bit too skeptically to be entirely a compliment, but it was enough to cement her smile. 

“Thanks,” she said, shooting him a warm look with wry edges. The reassurance was strange and unexpected but very welcome. She fell quiet, replaying the moment to herself and trying to internalize it. It didn’t matter that he was still sussing her out at the moment, when he’d been entirely predisposed in the other direction almost no time ago. Even the smallest change felt significant.

They crested the hill in silence and came to Riverwood not long after that. Soléne found herself absently thanking the divines it still hadn’t faced a dragon. The guard presence was stronger than when they were last there, but she was hard pressed to imagine even a hundred men bringing down the monstrosity that had turned Helgen to rubble. She shook the image of ruined houses from her mind, trying not to notice the way it resembled too many from memory, and turned to Kaidan, slowing her pace.

“Shall we stop here or keep going?”

He thought for a moment. "Stop here, I suppose. Might be we'll hear some news at the inn about any other dragon attacks." She pressed her lips together, hoping there would be no such thing and maybe the dragon was finished with its terror, but with rather grim expectations. "And then tomorrow, we can get in a full day of--wait..." He trailed off, narrowing his eyes at her and tilting his head towards the side as he stepped out of the walkway. She went along, leaning against the railing that enclosed the inn's porch. “Aren’t you supposed to avoid the sunlight or something?”

“Ideally,” she shrugged with an apprehensive glance around, “But what’s ideal about a dragon attack?”

He raised his eyebrows and shrugged back. “That’s… fair… But aren’t you… kind of bad off in the sun though?”

If she could arrange the whole of society around her sleep schedule, she might not mind, but she couldn’t, and this line of questioning was frustrating. What point was there in asking about her preference when she'd be the only person it mattered to? She sighed, reminding herself to be patient with the way he was still trying to understand. He didn’t seem to mean any harm but she’d learned centuries ago not to dwell on wants that would never be realized. He'd had far less time to learn and probably few, if any, to ask. 

"Alright," he said, before she could figure out the best way to answer. "Stop looking at me like that."

She blinked, eyes going wide, concerned she'd accidentally been staring at his neck or something. "Like what?"

"Like you're thinking about gagging me and leaving me in the woods." He sounded a touch sullen, but there was humor in his voice too, quiet and tentative, but there.

“I- I am not!” She sputtered, trying to shake away the vivid image his phrasing brought to mind. “That’s not even close.”

“No? You sure?” She caught him suppressing the beginnings of a grin and shook her head at him, partly in answer, partly in exasperation. “Because that’s the same look as the last couple times I asked.”

She opened her mouth to speak but sighed at him instead as she rubbed her forehead. She could probably manage to convince him she wasn’t going to eat him at any given moment, but apparently convincing him she wasn’t going to otherwise bite his head off a bit was trickier. “I… well. I’m a little nervous about having these talks where someone could walk past at any moment.” It wasn’t the whole truth, but it might appease him.

“You think I’d just bring it up without checking it was safe first?” A bit of the grin slipped past his defenses, tugging at one side of his mouth and keeping her wrong-footed.

“Well, how should I know what you’ve checked?” She returned swiftly, a pinch of indignation creeping into her tone.

He was quiet for a beat longer than she was expecting, and the bit of a grin dimmed. “Suppose that’s fair too. I did manage to avoid attention for quite a while before…”

“Oh.” A sympathetic wince tensed her shoulders for a moment. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to impl--”

“You didn’t. You didn’t know.”

Soléne bit her tongue at that, frustration creeping back in that even in his situation he somehow managed to have more grace about that kind of thing than she did.

“So,” he said heavily after an awkward moment, and she turned her eyes back to him, ready to change the subject to almost anything he planned to continue with. “This inn, or…?”

“Uh, sure.” Giving him a quick smile, she slipped past him to the door and pushed it open.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, man. Guys, I'm sorry about the wait between chapters (I did make a notice that I was taking a week off on tumblr) and I don't really have great news. Things are pretty difficult in my real life right now and I'm trying to juggle too many balls for the amount of energy I have, and I just can't keep to a schedule here. So, like, I'm not formally announcing a hiatus or anything, I just need to take a break for a bit while I get my shit in order.
> 
> Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope I'm not terribly disappointing anyone D:

The smell of food was tempting even without the need for it, and Soléne heard Kaidan sigh happily behind her at the atmosphere. She glanced up at him, prepared to follow his lead this time, if he should feel called to take it, and he nodded towards the bar. She gestured for him to move past her if he wanted, at first instinctive, but then curious if he would turn his back to her when invited. He satisfied her curiosity by taking the invitation.

"What news?" He asked the man behind the counter, after ordering himself an ale. The man shrugged and then glanced away as a blonde Breton woman returned from a nearby room.

"Orgnar," she barked, "I still need a batch of those fried potatoes." She slipped past them towards the counter, and the man looked up and nodded. "We can serve them with the ale," she continued, lower now that she wasn't speaking from across the inn.

"Yep," the man, Orgnar, acknowledged as he handed Kaidan his drink.

The woman sighed and put her hands on her hips. "And… you'll take care of it?"

"Don't I always?" He shot her a tired but familiar look as he bent down beneath the bar for a moment before emerging again with a potato, which he pointed at her as if to ward her off. The blonde woman pursed her lips at him and then looked the newcomers over. "Talk to Delphine if you need a room," Orgnar invited on her behalf, fixing his mischievous look on the potatoes he'd taken to preparing.

Soléne smiled politely at her in greeting and then turned her eyes up to Kaidan to find him looking back. He shrugged at her and she raised a brow, unable to puzzle out his thoughts non-verbally, but her attention was drawn an instant later by a skip in the innkeeper's heartbeat. When Soléne looked at her again, the purposeful disinterest was at odds with the way she heard the woman consciously adjust her breathing pattern.

"Inn's full up," Delphine said with her own shrug, and Soléne heard a break in the knife against wood as the cook paused in his chopping but didn't look up. Suddenly, she rather doubted the inn _was_ full up.

"Not a problem," Kaidan's voice had gone a bit cool and he was giving the innkeep a neutral but steely expression. "Just a drink and a quick bite then."

_Bite?_ Soléne caught the tip of her tongue between her teeth trying not to show the way his phrasing set alarms ringing in her head. It was just a simple turn of phrase, and besides they had already been refused service and if they did end up getting run out of town, at least their business wasn't with anyone here. The innkeeper shrugged, picking up a broom that had been resting against a nearby wall and started sweeping, but she couldn't shake the impression that the woman still had an eye on them. 

It didn't terribly surprise her, most towns had one or two people who were particularly shrewd, though usually it wasn't the owner of the inn. She expected this sort of thing from alchemists or mages, or long-serving city guards. And most of the time, if they'd been hesitant because they figured something about her was off, they didn't usually try to cover their distaste. 

Kaidan had taken his ale to a nearby table, and she sat beside him, still buried in thought. "Sorry," she began, drawing her focus back to him, "if you had your heart set on a bed for the night." 

He shrugged and unpacked some of the food he'd been given in Whiterun. "It is what it is. I’m no stranger to roughing it.” 

She paused for a moment, wondering about him, before he raised an eyebrow at her and she realized she was staring. She glanced away, but looked back not long later. “So, are you from Skyrim, or...?” 

He leaned back and appraised her for a moment and she watched his body language shift from focused on his meal to something more contemplative. “Well,” he said after a bit, pulling his eyes from hers to look hard into his drink. “I’ve spent a long time wandering. This is where my feet found me.” 

Catching the quick glance at her over the rim of his mug as he raised it to drink, she pressed her tongue thoughtfully against the tip of one of her fangs. “Apologies if that’s too forward. It’s been a while since I’ve said much to… another person.” She gave him a pointed look, hoping he caught her drift without needing to clarify. 

“No, I…” He sighed, leaning onto his elbows against the table again and distracting himself by poking through his food. “Me too. To own the truth, I’ve come back to Skyrim to learn something of my heritage, my bloodline.” He shot her another look and she noticed he was idling more than eating, and that she was staring again. “The few clues I have pointed me back here, but it takes time to decode. So I’m paying my way collecting bounties.” 

_‘Back here,’_ he’d said, and she wondered about his phrasing but figured poking too much at where he considered himself to be from might be over the line into prying. Though, there was no denying he had a unique look about him. “You… don’t really look like a Nord.” 

“Well, aren’t you observant?” His tone was somewhere between surprised and cheeky for a moment, but she couldn’t figure out exactly where. “I was raised by a Nord, and as one. But no, that Atmoran ice doesn’t run in my veins. I can’t be certain what does.” 

She paused, shifting some of her focus to the other patrons, not wanting to seem overly interested. “Have you got any family to ask?” 

“Not anymore.” He relaxed somewhat again and she was pleased to see it, even if mostly only out of the corner of her eye. “Perhaps I do have blood kin out there somewhere but I’ve never known them.” 

“I’m sorry,” she said sincerely, “I can sympathize. No idea where you came from then, or what even race you are?” 

“No,” he answered heavily. “I have no Voice of the Emperor or Dragonskin magic, I don’t know the race of my mother. All I have is a hunch, but I need proof.” 

This clearly vexed him. “I could help, if you want.” 

He blinked in surprise and turned to look at her with his full attention. “Really? You’d do that?” 

She gave him a half-smile and shrugged. “So long as we don’t neglect this dragon problem, I’m happy to.” 

A matching smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, hesitant and exasperated, but the slightest bit hopeful. “I suppose I could use the help. The best clue I have is my sword, but I’m sure we can find out more.” 

Her expression split into a full grin at that and she agreed to affirm it was a plan, and he went back to eating with gusto. 


End file.
